Class $^33U 

Book J^S— 

Copyright ^J" 




VEGETABLES, SMALL FRUITS AND 
FLOWERS FOR PLEASURE 
AND PROFIT 

BY 

JACOB HIGGLE 

ILLUSTRATED , 



'A good garden salves doctor bills, dri^ves a^ay the 
blues, suue^tens up the home, and puts 
money in thy pursed 



Philadelphia 
WILMER ATKINSON CO. 
1908 



^^^^ 



LiBRARY of CONGRESS 

Tv/o Oo!?;e5 Receiyed 

DEC i4 1908 

Oupyrijjr.t entry . 

w.\\,\'\o'ii 

tlASS cj XX6 Mb, 



Copyright, 1908 
WiLMER Atkinson Co. 



PREFACE 

IX reality a preface is rather a 
queer thing, because it's a "fore- 
word" which is written last! So, 
it seems, I am now to have the 
last word. To begin, I feel espe- 
cially indebted to R. L. Watts 
for several extracts from his ex- 
cellent Pennsylvania Bulletin Xo. 
147; to W. X^. Hutt, author of ^Maryland Bulletin 
Xo. 116 ; and to the authors of various other bulle- 
tins, books and catalogs whose writings have given 
me occasional lifts over rough places. ]\Iy thanks 
go also to the E. A. Strout Co., X^ew York City, 
and to a few^ well-known implement manufacturers, 
who kindly loaned me several photographs. 'Most 
of the pictures in the book, however, w^ere especially 
made for it by expert photographers and engravers 
who were carefully instructed regarding the practical 
details of each picture. 

X^ow just a few hints about the hnal problem of 
the average gardener — the selling end of the busi- 
ness : Don't ship to every strange commission house 
that solicits your consignment. Get a good solid 
house and stick to it. Or sell direct to storekeepers; 
or join or form a co-operative shipping and selling 
association ; or w^ork up a list of retail customers of 
your own. As an aid to the latter plan, the Long 
Island Agronomist, Huntington, X^. Y., has evolved 
a shipping package which it calls a "home hamper." 
It measures twenty-four inches long, fourteen inches 
wide, ten inches deep, and weighs about thirty pounds 
when filled. It contains six baskets holding about 




6 



HIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



one-half peck each; these are filled with vegetables 
in season, from radishes to cauliflower. Assortment 
is made to furnish soup, salad and substantial, with 
occasional fancies, such as eggplant and cantaloupes. 
Home hampers are packed in the morning, shipped 
by express at 7 A. M., and delivered at the customer's 
door in time for dinner ; hence real sweet corn, crisp 
lettuce, melting peas, beans, etc., all A No. i, are 
available for the table of the city dweller. The 
average family uses two home hampers per week. 
Price, $1.50 each, delivered at the door, within the 
delivery limits of the Long Island Express Company 
and payable at the end of each month. Good idea, 
it seems to me. Try it. 

Send only fresh, clean, attractive products to 
market ; sort, grade and honestly pack and mark each 
package ; give full measure ; use only clean, neat 
packages, and put your name and brand thereon. 
Keep the ''culls" for stock feed; earn a reputation 
for fancy products only. 

My earnest wish : May your garden be a great 
success, whether planned for pleasure or profit. 

Elmwood. Jacob Biggle. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Chapter L Preparation of the Land 9 

Chapter 11. Hotbeds and Coldframes 19 

Chapter III. Sowing and Planting 25 

Chapter IV. Fertilization. Cultivation. Irri- 
gation 43 

Chapter V. Spraying. Formulas. Garden 

Pests and Friends 55 

Chapter VI. Asparagus. Rhubarb. Horse- 
radish .65 

Chapter VIL The Onion 75 

Chapter VIIL Peas and Potatoes 83 

Chapter IX. Root Crops : Beet, Carrot, Pars- 
nip, Radish, Salsify, Turnip, 

etc 95 

Chapter X. Lettuce. Celery 103 

Chapter XI. Cabbage and Cauliflower. Also 
Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, 

Kale, Kohlrabi iii 

Chapter XII. Corn. Beans. Sweet Potatoes.. 119 
Chapter XIII. Cucumber. ]\Ielon. Pumpkin. 

Squash 127 

Chapter XIV. Tomato. Eggplant. Pepper... 135 
Chapter XV. Miscellaneous : Artichoke, Cel- 
eriac. Chard, Corn Salad, Cress, 
Endive, Ginseng, Herbs, Leek, 
Mushroom, Mustard, Okra, 

Parsley, Spinach, etc 141 

Chapter XVI. The Flower Garden 149 

Chapter XVII. Small Fruits 167 



Chapter I 
PREPARATION OF THE LAND 

It is well to aim high even when getting ready to plant 
things in the ground. — Harriet. 

f I ^HE man, woman or youngster who 
really wants a garden, will somehow 
manage to have a good one regard- 
less of soil conditions, bad weather, 
measles in the family, or whether the 
area of ground at hand is a square 
acre or a square rod. But, of course, 
if one has a chance to select the site 
and the soil, 'tis well to know what 
to choose. 

LccATiON OF THE GARDEN. — If it is to be a family 
garden, designed primarily to furnish an all-season 
supply of fresh things for the home table, the loca- 
tion should be one handy to the house, but not handy 
to the hen-house. 

If it is to be a truck garden, primarily for profit, 
nearness to a city or fair-sized town is an important 
point to consider. Why? Because market, manure 
and labor will then be within easy reach, and the 
gardener can more easily keep posted on market con- 
ditions. Long hauls are expensive ; long-distance 
connections are not always satisfactory. If he can 
not locate within easy driving distance of such a 
place, then the next best thing is to choose a spot 
within easy reach of railway station or steamboat 
wharf, whereby quick transportation (preferably 




10 



BIGGLE GARDEX BOOK 



without transfers) may be had direct to a good 
market. And, in either case, let him beware of bad 
or hilly roads over which he must pass to reach mar- 
ket or transportation line. Hauling big loads up 
hill or through mud or over ruts and stones is — 
well, it isn't good business. 

Slope, and Wind Protectiox. — I agree with R. L. 
Watts, when he says : For the production of early 
vegetables, the aspect or exposure is an important 
factor. Earlier truck can be produced on land with 
a southern or southeastern exposure. Locations not 
naturally protected by hills or woodland may be 
made warmer by the planting of hedges for wind- 
breaks. The Norway spruce is excellent for this 
purpose. It is particularly important to have the 
coldframe and hotbed plat well protected from the 
north and west winds. 

As TO Soil. — Any soil, he states, which produces 
satisfactory crops of wheat, corn and oats, will gen- 
erally give good results when planted with vege- 
tables. Some vegetables, however, require special 
peculiarities of soil and do not thrive when planted 
in soils wanting in such properties. For example, it is 
impossible to grow first-class carrots, salsify, radishes 
and other vegetables with long roots, in a soil con- 
taining much clay. These and many other vegetables 
thrive best in sandy soils, while cabbage, cauliflower 
and sweet corn prefer heavier soils. Sandy soils pro- 
duce the earliest and smoothest vegetables, and such 
soils are very easily tilled, yet they are extremely 
leachy and require liberal applications of manure to 
maintain productiveness. Distinctly gravelly soils, 
containing very little clay, should be avoided. Heavy, 
stiff, tenacious clays are not desirable for any branch 
of gardening, although quite susceptible to perma- 



PREPARATION OF THE LAND 



II 



nent improvement. Reclaimed bogs and swamps are 
excellent, when properly handled, for the production 
of onions, celery, etc. 

V\'. Rawson, in his well-known book on mar- 
ket gardening, says: "Sandy loam, with a sandy or 
gravelly subsoil, should be selected. A clay subsoil, 
at least until underdrained, will render any land 
cold, as it retains the moisture." 

Draixage. — To do this subject justice would re- 
quire more space than I have at my disposal. Suf- 
fice it to say that most garden soils can be greatly 
benefited by a system of underground tile drains, 
and, also, that some soils are absolutely unfit for 
garden purposes until they are underdrained. Tile 
drains help to make wet soils drier, and dry soils 
more moist. Write to the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. C, and ask for a copy 
of free Farmers' Bulletin Xo. 187, entitled. Drainage 
of Land. 

Plaxxixg axd Layixg-Out. — Begin this prelim- 
inary work early. Study the characteristics of your 
land, its wet and dry places, its sandy or clayey 
spots, etc. Pleasure it accurately. Then figure out, 
on paper, a definite planting plan, showing just 
where everything should go, the distance between 
rows, and ideas about successional plantings. The 
diagram of a garden, pictured in this chapter, may 
give you some useful hints. It is a plan drawn by 
John W. Lloyd for an Illinois Experiment Station 
bulletin. Xo distances between rows are given in 
this reproduction of his plan, for distances would 
depend upon whether the garden is to be worked by 
hand or by horse power. (The correct distances for 
planting are given, either way, elsewdiere in this 
book.) 



12 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 




Whatever plan you 
decide on, endeavor, if 
possible, to have long, 
straight rows, which 
will permit much of 
the work to be done by 
wheel hoe or by horse 
power. Therefore, run 
the rows the long way 
of the garden or field ; 
whether the rows run 
north and south or east 
and west is not so im- 
portant. Plan to have 
level rows, not ele- 
vated little beds di- 
vided into squares by 
paths. Let the spaces 
between rows be the 
paths, generally speak- 
ing. Some folks seem 
to think that a garden 
must be a series of 
beds raised higher than 
the path or ground 
level; this, in most 
cases, is a great mis- 
take, for such elevated 
places soon dry out 
and the plants suffer 
for m.oisture. If the 
ground is naturally so 
damp that raising the 
beds is necessary to 
"get them up out of 



PREPARATION OF THE LAND 



13 



the wet," then the practise may, perhaps, have the 
shadow of an excuse — but 'twould be much better to 
underdrain ground which is so wet. 

The AIarket Garden. — The capital and equip- 
ment required for a successful commercial venture in 
trucking, vary according to localities and circum- 
stances, but the average is much higher than most 
people suppose. The late Peter Henderson, a very 
successful gardener, estimated that three hundred 
dollars per acre was needed for equipment (tools, im- 
plements, horses, w^agons, glass, frames, etc.) and 
for working capital (rent, labor, manure, fertilizer, 
marketing expenses, etc.). This would not include 
the purchase of land or buildings, and the estimate 
is based on an area of ten acres or less. 

W. W. Rawson, in Market Gardening, says : ''The 
amount of capital required varies with the amount 
of land cultivated, but not in proportion. While it 
might require about three thousand dollars, with the 
labor of three men and two horses, properly to han- 
dle two acres, I estimate that there would be needed 
about five thousand dollars, six men and three 
horses, for ten acres." 

The foregoing estimates are based on the best, 
most intensive, culture, with many hotbeds and cold- 
frames, near New York and Boston, where the rent 
or cost of land is high. On cheaper land in some 
other localities, or on land farther away from cit- 
ies, the capital requirements should be less. Un- 
der such conditions, perhaps five hundred dollars 
capital would suffice, if a careful, experienced man 
had five acres of good land paid for. Or even con- 
siderably less than this amount, if he had a general 
farm and raised a few acres of truck merely as a 
side issue. 



14 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



As TO Profits. — Well, they depend so much upon 
circumstances, seasons, localities and the juan, that 
general estimates are apt to be misleading. From 
one hundred to three hundred dollars per acre, net, 
is perhaps a fair average. H. S. Weber, of Pennsyl- 
vania, recently figured his year's profit on a patch 
of about seven acres, as follows : Fertilizer, seed, 
hired help, marketing expenses, etc., $394; gross re- 
ceipts, $1,700; net profit, $1,306, or about $186 per 
acre. 

The Home Garden. — By this I mean the ''kitchen 
garden," which is intended to furnish an ample sup- 
ply of fresh or canned goodies "all the year 'round." 



reliable. Here the spade or digging fork (I prefer 
the latter) often takes the place of the plow, the rake 
doubtless performs the duty of a harrow, elbow 
grease may be substituted for horse power, and 
hand hoes, hand planters and seeders, hand culti- 
vators, weeders, diggers, sprayers, etc., are often sub- 
stituted for horse-drawn machinery. Fertilizers are 
applied to square rods or square feet instead of to 
acres, and manure is perhaps hauled in wheelbarrows 
and spread by hand instead of in a machine manure- 
spreader. And the results are just as good — often 
better — than those achieved by the commercial gar- 




A ONE-HORSE PLOW WILL DO IF SOIL 
LIGHT AND AREA NOT TOO LARGE 



IS 



Here the condi- 
tions are quite dif- 
ferent from the 
foregoing. The 
area to be worked 
is smaller, the 
labor and expense 
less, and the mar- 
ket is right at 
home — sure and 



PREPARATION OF THE LAND 



15 



dener. Many times, too, a surplus is grown, which 
can be sold for good hard cash. 

Does it pay? I say, Yes! So does Harriet. 
Tim echoes the sentiment, and Martha echoes Tim. 
Here's what Chas. C. Woodruff, of Illinois, said in 
Farm Journal : 'T have a small town garden, 
28x30 feet — just 840 square feet — and I take care 
of it without help, except that I hire it spaded in 
the spring. I am a printer, and it is necessary for 
me to be at the shop from 7 A. M. to 6 P. and 
the time I have for gardening is before and after 
these hours. I have kept an account of seeds bought, 
and the amount the produce would have sold for on 
the market at the time of gathering. Seeds, labor, 
etc., figure up exactly $3.95, and cash value of prod- 
uce exactly $55.29. Think of it ! — fifty-five dollars' 
worth of produce from an outlay of $3.95. Then the 
recreation ! I got about $200 worth of that, with 
about $500 worth of satisfaction thrown in. Fifty- 
five dollars' worth of produce raised on 840 square 
feet of ground is at the rate of $2,488 worth of prod- 
uce per acre. On most of my ground I raised three 
crops. No room for weeds. The w^ork was health- 
ful recreation; far better than loafing dow^n town, 
and better pay." 

I have seen the statement that an area 100x150 
feet should furnish 
an ample supply of 
vegetables (exclusive 
of winter potatoes) 
for an ordinary fam- 
ily. So it should. 
But let me say right 
here that smaller spring harrowing should fol- 

, , , LOW PLOWING AS SOON AS 

patches than that possible 




i6 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



often produce enough for average needs. Intensive 
culture will accomplish wonders on even a tiny plat. 

Plowing. — The time to plow depends upon cir- 
cumstances. Early spring is the usual time, although 
fall-plowing has advantages when the ground is 
soddy or badly infested with wireworms, cutworms, 
grubs, etc. How deep to plow? As deep as you can 
without bringing up much of the subsoil. (Subsoil 
plowing requires a separate plowing with a special 
kind of a plow designed to loosen up the lower strata 
without bringing it to the surface; few gardeners, 
however, go to this extra trouble and expense, if 
they have a deep, mellow, well-drained soil. But 
subsoiling frequently pays. It need not be done 
oftener than once in two years.) 

Never work soil when it is very wet and sticky ; 
wait until it dries into crumbly, workable condition. 

Trenching and Ridging. — To trench a strip of 
ground means to throw off the topsoil, spade up the 
subsoil, and then replace the topsoil. It's a great 



plow, and is therefore easier in large gardens. 

Ridging land usually means to fall-plow it into 
ridges or beds, so that depressions ("dead fur- 
rows") occur, say, about every ten feet. Surface 




AFTER HARROWING, SMOOTH THE 
GROUND. THIS IS ONE WAY TO DO IT 



deal of work, and not 
always so necessary as 
some of the old-fash- 
ioned books taught. 
For hard, shallow soils, 
DV for deep-rooting 
:rops like carrots, etc., 
it certainly brings good 
results. Subsoiling is the 
same thing, practically, 
but it's done with a 



PREPARATION CF THE LAND 



17 




A GOOD LAND-ROLLER 
COMPACTS AND SMOOTHS 



water then runs into the furrows, allowing the ridges 
to dry off more rapidly, permitting of earlier work- 
ing in the spring. Prop- 
erly drained or tiled 
land seldom requires 
ridging. (Ridging or 
hilling or banking cel- 
ery, etc., is a different 
operation.) 

Fertilizing and 
Manuring. — See Chap- 
ter IV. 

Harrowing. — The 
Acme harrow is a very 
good general-purpose 
smoothing harrow. The 
spring-tooth harrow is helpful on rough, stony, un- 
even land. The spike-tooth, or peg-tooth, is a splen- 
did all-round harrow (but it should be so made that 
the teeth can be given a backward slant when it is 
desired to work recently-planted potatoes or corn). 
Harrowing should follow plowing as soon as pos- 
sible in the spring, and be very thorough — lengthwise, 
crosswise and diagonally, until the ground is as fine 
and mellow as an ash heap. The disc harrow is an 
excellent implement for spring work on fall-plowed 
ground, and for other special purposes. 

Plank Drag, or Roller. — After harrowing, 
smooth or "float" the ground with some kind of 
home-made drag, or roll it with a field roller. 

(See several illustrations in this 
chapter.) Then the soil should be 
in compact, excellent condition 
A HOME-MADE PLANK foj- marking and planting, for 

DRAG FOR SMOOTHING , . , J? ^-il- ^' 

which see Chapter Hi. 




PIGGING TOMATO PLANTS. THIS GARDENER STARTED SEED IN THE 
HOTBED SOIL ; FLATS ARE OFTEN MORE CONVENIENT 



Chapter II 



HOTBEDS AND COLDFRAMES 




Seeds, like mankind, are able to sleep zvell and get up 
early, if they have a good bed. — Tim. 

OTBEDS should be located 
near an outbuilding which 
can be warmed and used for 
transplanting work. It is 
also an advantage to have 
them near the water supply, 
unless the water is piped to 
the beds. A southern aspect 
is desirable and the frames should run east and west, 
with the glass sloping to the south, says R. L. Watts. 

The pit for the hotbed should be dug in the fall 
before the ground is . frozen. It is not necessary in 
Pennsylvania to excavate to a greater depth than 
about two feet four inches. The pit should be six 
feet wide and long enough to accommodate the num- 
ber of sash to be used. It should be lined with heavy 
boards, preferably chestnut, nailed to chestnut or 
locust stakes. If the ground is level, the frame 
should extend twelve inches above the surface of the 
soil on the upper side 
and six inches on the 
lower side. This will 
provide for the proper 
drainage of water from 
the sash. In making the 
frame, it is best to have 
two or three sash at sectional view of hotbed 




20 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



hand, so that no mistake will be made in the meas- 
urements. Cross-bars or sash supports, 2x3 inches, 
are placed three feet apart where each two sash 
meet. Locate the hotbed in a well-drained spot. 

Fresh horse-manure, containing a liberal amount 
of straw or other litter, is the best material to fur- 
nish heat in the hotbed. If manure is saved from 
the home stable, it should be collected and preserved 
under cover. It requires about one two-horse load for 
every two sash. When sufficient manure has been 
saved, or procured from liA'ery stables, tramp com- 
pactly into piles about five feet square and three feet 
high. In three or four da3'S, or less, considerable 
heat will be generated b}^ fermentation, and the 
manure should be tramped into another pile, throw- 
ing the outer portions into the center of the pile. 
AMien fermentation is well under way in the second 
pile, throw the manure into the pit in successive layers, 
tramping continuously. Fill the pit to within four or 
five inches of the top of the frame on the south side. 
The manure will settle several inches before time for 
sowing the seed. Place sash on the frame imme- 
diately after filling, and plunge a thermometer in the 
heating material so that the bulb is four inches below 
the surface. The heat will rise rapidly until it 
reaches a temperature of, at least, 120°. A high 
temperature ma}^ be maintained for a week or more, 
but it will not do to sow seed over such hot material. 
Wait until the temperature drops below 90°, then 
place two or three inches of good soil over the 
manure if flats are to be used (see Chapter III), or 
about four inches if the seed is to be sown directly 
in the soil. 

CoLDFRAMES. — Coldframes are usually con- 
structed in the same manner as hotbeds except that 



HOTBEDS AND COLDFRAMES 



21 



they are simply built on top of the ground and no 
manure is used, heat being furnished by the rays of 
the sun. 

Sash for Hotbeds and Coldframes. — It is more 
convenient to use sash which are not very large, 
continues R. L. Watts. We have in use four hun- 
dred 3x6 foot sash, and wc believe a larger size 
would be of no advantage, but rather a disadvantage. 
Our preference for thickness is one and three- 
eighths inches. The best material is cypress or cedar. 
If quite a number of sash are to be used, it is more 
economical to do the glazing at home. Pamt the 
sash before glazing, using 
a liberal supply of oil in 
the white lead. After the 
paint is dry, the glazing 
may be begun. It is best 
to procure single-strength 
A glass rather than cheap- 
er grades. There should the hotbed should be shel- 
be three runs of 10x12 tered from cold winds by 

. , . . WALL, FENCE OR WINDBREAK 

glass, each run requirmg 

six panes, or eighteen panes per sash. Overlap the 
panes about one-fourth inch. Secure the glass at 
each lap by the smallest-sized glazing points. After 
driving in the points, apply putty or mastica. x\fter 
this hardens, paint the sash again. 

Fire Hotbeds. — In some sections nearly all the 
market gardeners use fire hotbeds, says E. R. Jin- 
nette. It is neither difficult nor expensive to make 
a fire bed. The bed is warmed by two flues extend- 
ing from the fire-box or furnace. Iii clay soils the 
flues are often simply trenches cut in the soil six or 
eight inches deep, the width of a spade at the bottom 
and eight or ten inches at the top. They are covered 




22 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



with flat Stones. Six-inch drain tiles make good 
flues. The furnace can be made of stone or brick. It 
should be two feet wide, two feet high and four feet 
long. Old grate-bars, or a section of an old boiler, 
make a fine top for the furnace. Fire beds vary in 
length from fifty to 200 feet, but seventy-five to 100 
feet will prove most satisfactory. To insure a good 
draft the flues must have a rise of three or four 
feet to the 100 feet of length. For this reason it is 
better to make the bed on a gentle south slope. Start 
the bed eight or ten feet from the furnace. The 
earth on the flues next to the furnace should be at 
least three feet deep, tapering down to four or five 
inches at the upper end. It is best to have the bed 
extend east and west, and the flue on the south side 
should be within six inches of the edge of the bed. 
That on the north side can be a foot or more from 
the edge. At the fire-box the top of the flues should 
be on a level with the top of the furnace, and both 
flues should open into chimneys at the upper end. 
To save fuel the furnace should have a door. 

Greenhouses. — The construction and operation 
of greenhouses heated by the hot-water system, is 



build greenhouses unless 
they are operating on a 
VENTILATION MUST BE CARE- ygj-y largc scalc, iu which 

TTTTT TV DC-/~TTT ATTP* nO flT ACC _ - . 




hardly a subject within 
the scope of this little 
book; those who are in- 
terested in the matter 
need a special volume — 
such as Prof. Bailey's, 
The Forcing Book. Few 
gardeners can afford to 



FULLY REGULATED, OR GLASS 
REMOVED ON WARM DAYS 



case they will find it 



HOTBEDS AXD COLDFRAMES 



23 



cheaper and easier to furnish heat by fuel in the 
furnace than by manure in the hotbed. The air of 
the hotbed is liable to become very damp, as well as 
too hot, and these two conditions may cause serious 
trouble by the "damping off" of plants. When the 
weather is cold and the winds severe, it is difficult 
properly to ventilate hotbeds without chilling the 
plants. All of the points are in favor of the green- 
house. 

GLASS POIXTS 

A hotbed, after the heat is spent, can be used as a cold- 
frame, if desired. 

The outside of the hotbed frame should be banked with 
manure. This helps to keep in the heat. 

A properly made hotbed is good for six or seven or 
sometimes eight weeks; the heat gradually declines. 

If the hotbed manure is loose and fluffy after being 
trodden, there is too much straw in it; if it packs soggy and 
czUd under the foot, there is too little straw. It should feel 
springy when trodden, but. should not swell up quickly in a 
loose mass when released from pressure. 

The coldframe is used for: i. Growing some of the 
vegetables and flowers late in the fall, such as lettuce, rad- 
ishes, violets, etc. 2. Receiving plants which have been 
started earlier in hotbeds and forcing houses, to harden them 
for outdoor planting. 3. Wintering hardy plants, such as 
cabbage and lettuce and all plants which can be sown in the 
fall. 4. Growing lettuce, radishes, celery plants for late 
setting, or anything which is planted or needed later than 
hotbed stuff. 

"\\'ith thirty-six sash for coldframes, and a small green- 
house 16 X 24, we raised 18,000 cabbage plants, 5,000 tomato 
plants, some eggplants, peppers and lettuce plants, and 20,000 
sweet potato sprouts," writes H. S. Weber, of Pennsylvania. 
"We found a ready market for the plants; cabbage at $5 per 
thousand, tomatoes at $10 per thousand and sweet potatoes 
at $2 per thousand. The eggplant and peppers sold at fifteen 
cents per dozen. In addition to the foregoing, we raised 
enough for our own use." 




DRILLING SEED. ROWS WOULD BE STRAIGHTER IF LINE HAD BEEN 
USED FOR FIRST ROW 



Chapter III 



SOWING AND PLANTING 

Oh, bend your back and sow the seed, 
For the glad spring days are Jiere, 

And he ivho labors Jias little need 
Of the liarvest time to fear. 




N the production of early tomatoes, 
peppers, eggplant, celery, cabbage, etc., 
it is very important to have strong, 
thrifty plants ready for the field the 
first day it is safe to transplant. A 
delay of a few days may be the cause 
of reaching the market too late to 
catch the highest prices. 



^ " Testing Seeds. — The strength and 

vigor of a plant is largely dependent 
upon the character of the seed used, says Pennsyl- 
vania Bulletin No. 147. Old seeds are generally 
slower to germinate, and frequently produce weak 
plants. It is, as a rule, safer to use new seed, and it 
is also important to procure large, plump seeds. To 
avoid trouble and disappointment, it is desirable to 
purchase seed not later than January ist, and to test 
carefully before making the main sowing. In the 
absence of hotbeds at that season of the year, and if 
no greenhouse is available, the test can be made in 
the kitchen window. Count two lots of one hundred 
seeds of each variety to be grown, sow in separate 
rows in a shallow box, and count the plants that come 
up. This is a more certain and practical test than by 



26 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



Sprouting the seeds between damp cloths. At least 
seventy per cent, of the seeds should sprout vigor- 
ously. 

Starting the Hotbed Plants. — Preparation 
should be made the previous fall by storing away soil 
to be used in starting the plants. Good garden or 
field loam, or compost, as free as possible from weed 
seeds, should be selected for this work. Loams in 
which there is little or no clay are the best, as such 
soils will not bake to any considerable extent. 

If a greenhouse is available, it is best to sow 
in drills on the bench soil. If a hotbed is to be 
used, it is more convenient to sow in drills in shallow 
plant boxes (called "flats"). After filling the boxes, 
press the soil firmly, especially in the corners and 
along the sides. With a narrow straight-edge, such 
as a piece of plastering lath, make furrows (drills) 
about two inches apart and one-fourth to three-eighths 
of an inch deep. The seed may be sown broadcast, 
covering one-fourth inch, but the preference is to 
sow in drills. The plants come up better and are 
more convenient to lift at the time of transplanting. 
After sowing, cover the seed or close the furrows, 
firm the soil with a wooden block, and water thor- 
oughly. The watering may be done either before or 
after setting the flats in the hotbed. 

Beginners are often perplexed as to how thick to 
sow the seed. This matter can be better regulated by 
sowing in drills than when broadcasting. A flat the 
size of an ordinary soap-box is large enough to grow 
seven or eight hundred plants, or even more when 
there are no mishaps. In sowing cabbage, lettuce, 
pepper, tomato, eggplant, etc., from twelve to fifteen 
seeds per each inch of furrow is about right. If the 
furrows are of uniform length, the seeds may be 



SOWING AND PLANTING 



27 



counted for one furrow, and a small measure devised 
(as a thimble partly filled with paraffin) to sow about 
the same quantity of seed in each furrow. After 
sowing the seed the furrows can be filled rapidly by 
moving a straight-edge over the ridges. If the seed- 
lings seem to crowd too much when they grow, thin 
them out as soon as possible, press the soil about the 
remaining plants, and then water enough to settle the 
ground. 

Ventilation, Moisture, etc. — Heat and mois- 
ture must be carefully regulated and controlled. A 
high temperature and excessive moisture, with little 
ventilation, necessarily produce weak, spindling 
plants. Every possible effort should be made to 
maintain a moderate temperature (not above 90° 
nor below 60°) in the greenhouse or hotbed, and it 
is important not to water more than is absolutely 
necessary. In the management of hotbeds, ventila- 
tion should be attended to daily; water only when 
the ground looks dry. Warm the water in cold 
weather to avoid chilling plants. For time of sowing 
see chapters on the different vegetables. 

Transplanting to Hot or Cold Frames. — In 
about four weeks the seedlings are usually ready to 
transplant. By that time the fourth or rough leaves 
will be formed and a good root system developed. 
Whether the plants should be transplanted to hot or 
to cold frames depends upon the variety, the time 
and the season. Hardy plants like cabbage, cauli- 
flower, lettuce, etc., may go into coldframes early, 
but tender plants such as tomatoes, peppers, egg- 
plant, etc., should not go into coldframes until the 
time and weather make such a change safe; these 
last are sometimes moved early to hotbeds and then 
later to coldframes. Fill fiats with a mixture of 



28 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



about half well-rotted manure and half soil, and the 
addition of some bone meal. A thin layer of fine 
soil is placed on top, making each flat level full and 
soil quite firm. The flat is now ready to plant. 

The transplanting board, see illustration, is 
placed over the flat, resting on a box or table of con- 



R. L. watts' transplanting euds with strips. The 



as shown. Holes are bored at the required dis- 
tances with a three-quarter-inch bit. For cabbage, 
tomato, lettuce and most other plants the holes should 
be about two inches apart for the first transplanting. 
Of course, the holes can be made with an ordinary 
stick or dibber, and without the aid of this board; 
but the board is certainly a help when many plants 
are grown.) Place the left hand on the board, hold- 
ing it firmly, and with the right hand and special- 
shaped dibber (the dibber should work freely), 
punch the holes in the soil ready to receive the 
plants. If the soil contains just the right amount of 
moisture (which can be regulated by sprinkling and 
mixing before placing board on top of the flat), no 
trouble will be encountered in making the holes or in 
transplanting. One boy will punch the holes as fast 
as six or eight can plant. Boys drop a plant in each 
hole, and a man can fasten roots very rapidly. If 
the soil contains the proper amount of moisture, 
little or no watering is necessary immediately after 
transplanting. 

When these flats are placed in the frames very 




venient height. (This 
transplanting board can 
easily be made of sound 
lumber, cleated at the 



BOARD AND DIBBER, 
ON " FLAT " 



board should be large 
enough to cover the flat, 



SOWING AND PLANTING 



29 



little or no ventilation is given until the plants are 
established, which, under favorable conditions, re- 
quires only two or three days. It is best to keep a 
humid atmosphere until new roots are formed, and 
this can not be accomplished if ventilation is too 
free. If the sun is very hot, which may be the case 
in the spring when tomatoes and peppers are trans- 
planted, the frames should be shaded w4th straw 
mats, turning back the edges of the mats six to 
twelve inches to admit light and sunshine. Look the 
flats over daily and water only the dry spots. After 
the plants have made a good start, admit air and 
keep soil moist. Close the sash toward evening, be- 
fore the air gets too cool ; and if the weather is quite 
cold, place mats on the frames not later than four 
o'clock in the afternoon. Remove mats early in the 
morning, if the weather permits ; and, when there 
is no danger of freezing, the mats should not be put 
on the frame until as late as possible in the evening. 

The plants of cabbage, lettuce and cauliflower 
should be zucll hardened before setting in the field. 
After they have reached the proper size, give them 
all the air they will stand. When the plants have had 
a few days of free exposure to the air by removing 
the sash, leave off the mats for two or three nights, 
and then do not cover with sash at night. If the 
process of hardening is gradual, th€ plants named 
may finally be frozen stiff in the frames without 
damage, and, after freezing in the frame, they will 
stand almost any amount of hard freezing in the 
field. Of course, tender plants, such as tomatoes, 
peppers, eggplant, etc., must not be frozen in the 
hardening process. 

Advantages of Flats. — Plants are frequently 
raised by sowing seed in the soil placed directly on 



30 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



the manure in the hotbed, then transplanting into 
rich soil in another hotbed or coldframe. Although 
this method is employed successfully by many gar- 
deners, experience has taught that it is more con- 
venient and satisfactory (unless a greenhouse is 
available) to sow the seed in flats oi" shallow plant 
boxes, transplanting into the same kind of boxes. 
The weather is often very severe at the time the seed 
should be sown in the hotbed, but if flats are used, 
the work may be done in a warm outbuilding ; 
water them there if more convenient, and then place 
the boxes in the hotbed. When the time for trans- 
planting arrives, the flats of plants may be carried to 
a warm room provided with tables or benches, and 
the work of transplanting to other flats done with 
ease and comfort. It is often cold, wet and dis- 
agreeable when early plants should be transplanted 
into the frames, and it would be quite impossible to 
work advantageously in the open air under such un- 
favorable conditions. When flats are used, a large 
number may be planted, set back on the floor or 
shelves, and, if the weather is cold, the planted flats 
can be hurried to the frames where they may be 
quickly covered with the sash. Also, when the plants 
are ready for the garden or field, the flats can be 
watered thoroughly, loaded on a wagon and hauled 
to the field, where they can be distributed at con- 
venient intervals. By standing flats on end and jar- 
ring lightly, the compost will separate from the bot- 
tom and sides of the flat, and the hand can be slipped 
under the layer and plants removed by breaking the 
compost which has become a network of fine roots, 
thus taking out each plant with considerable compost 
attached to the roots. This is a most important mat- 
ter in transplanting early vegetable plants. When all 



SOWING AND PLANTING 



31 



the foregoing advantages are considered, it seems 
that no one should attempt to grow early vegetable 
plants in quantity without the use of flats. It is an 
advantage to have the flats uniform in size and of 
such dimensions that no space is lost in the hotbeds 
or coldframes. Make them of, say, half-inch wood 
of any kind. They should be two or three inches 
deep, and not too large to handle easily when filled. 

Dirt-Bands for Melons, etc. — Dirt-bands are 
very convenient for starting melons, cucumbers, 
squashes and lima beans in hotbeds. They are each 
made of a thin strip of wood veneering eighteen 
inches long and three inches wide, grooved so as to 
fold up into a bottomless box four inches square and 
three inches deep. They are placed in the hotbed 
without tacking. Pressing them down into the dirt 
will hold them in shape until they are filled with soil. 
They can be taken out of the bed four at a time with 
a spade, placed on the wagon or sled, and the spade 
slipped from under them. In the field they can be 
taken from the wagon with a spade. If properly 
wet down before removal from the bed, and handled 
carefully throughout, very little dirt will fall out of 
the boxes in transplanting, and, therefore, the roots 
will not be disturbed. Hundreds of thousands of 
dirt-bands are used by the truckers of southern Illi- 
nois, and most dealers in box material carry them in 
stock early in the season. They cost from $1.00 to 
$1.25 per thousand. The bands can be used, after 
removal from around the plants, to protect them 
from the hot sun. 

Three-inch paper pots are sometimes used in- 
stead of dirt-bands ; some gardeners like to trans- 
plant tomatoes, etc., in them. They are made of 
stout paper, and may last several seasons. (Of 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



course, my readers will understand that pots, dirt- 
bands, or similar ideas, are only necessary in the case 
of plants that are difficult to transplant in the ordi- 
nary way. Tomato, cabbage, etc., will endure con- 
siderable root disturbance and rough handling; but 
melons, etc., will not.) 

Growing Plants Under Cloth. — In some parts 
of the South, truckers are able to grow many early 
vegetables, etc., with only the slight protection af- 
forded by cotton cloth, stretched over wooden 
frames. This, in a very mild climate, can perhaps 
take the place of glass for some purposes. In a 
North Carolina state bulletin, however, W. F. ]\Iassey 
discourages the idea that cloth is cheaper to use than 
glass in that state. He says : ''Cloth is, in the long 
run, far more expensive than glass ; also, when the 
difference between the crops is considered, it is the 
more costly from the start, because of the less profit 
that can be had from it ; and in severe spells it is 
almost out of the question to prevent serious damage, 
Avhich would not be the case with glass-covered 
frames." (Some extensive southern growers get 
around the latter danger by installing a steam or hot- 
water outfit, and running pipes through a long series 
of cloth-covered frames. — J. B.) 

Mats to Protect Frames. — The cold nights 
would be destructive to the plants if given no other 
protection than the sash. Some gardeners rely 
mainly on wooden shutters, but these are not so warm 
as mats, and can not be placed on the frames nor 
be removed so rapidly. Mats of various materials, 
such as burlap or rubber cloth packed with cotton or 
waste material, have been placed on the market by 
dealers, but some gardeners make mats from rye 
straw, which are just as serviceable at must less cost. 



SOWING AND PLANTING 



33 



They can be made on rainy days, or through the 
winter when the gardener is usually not very busy. 
Each mat should be 6 x 6^ feet in size, so that it will 
cover two sash in width, and allow the extra half-foot 
to lap over the ends of the sash at top and bottom. 

Marking the Ground Outdoors. — Many grow- 
ers plant with a line stretched across the patch and 
moved into place for the next row ; this insures ab- 
solutely straight rows (for which I have a great 
liking), but is not well adapted to large fields. In 
very small gardens a long, straight board can be 
laid down, and the planting done 



several styles of home-made 
markers, one pulled by horse power, and another 
kind drawn (backward) by hand (see illustration on 
this page). By making a few changes, these markers 
are easily adjusted to any width of row desired. 

If deep markings are wanted — that is, if a man 
wants furrows instead of mere guide marks — a one- 



along its edge. On large areas, 
however, it is very convenient 
and time-saving to mark out the 
entire field in advance of plant- 
ing. For this purpose there are 




HOME-MADE ONE-HORSE 
MARKER 




HOME-MADE MARKER WITH 
SEVEN ADJUSTABLE SLEDS 



horse plow, or a culti- 
vator rigged as a fur- 
rower, can be used by fol- 
lowing the shallow marks 
previously made by a 
marker. Or a three or 
four row horse furrower 
can be made at home, sim- 
ilar to the one pictured 
on the next page. 



It requires a steady 



34 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



horse, a good eye and practise to make fairly-straight 
marks or furrows. It is a great help to stretch a 
line as a guide for the lirst furrows across the side 
of a field ; then, coming back, keep one outside 

marker tooth 
or sled in the in- 
side mark made 




during the first 
trip ; and so on, 
till the field is 
finished. (The 
furrower opera- 
tor in the pic- 
ture is practising 
this very thing. 



A HOME-MADE THREE-ROW FURROWER but hc UeglcCtcd 

to stretch a line 

for the first or outside rows, and, therefore, his 
furrows are not so exact as they might be.) 

Planting Distances. — In the various chapters 
on vegetables, etc., will be found hints regarding how 
far apart to plant the different varieties. 

Transplanting to the Field. — The method of 
doing this with flats has already been mentioned. If 
plants have been grown directly in the soil in frames, 
then, of course, they must be dug (without disturbing 
the roots more than is necessary), placed in boxes 
convenient for handling, hauled to the field, kept 
moist and out of the sun, and planted as rapidly 
as possible. E. R. Jinnette says : 'Tnstead of 
using flats, my way is to soak the soil in the frames 
with water. Then with knife or spade cut the soil 
into blocks — a plant in center of each — and take 
blocks up with a spade and move them on wagon to 
field." As soon as the field is planted, start the culti- 



SOWING AND PLAXTIXG 



35 



vator, and make a nice "dust mulch" to conserve 
moisture. The best times to do transplanting are 
before a rain, or toward evening. 

It is often a help to shade the newly-set plants 
for a few days, but this is hardly practicable in a 
large field ; the small grower, however, can utilize 
shingles, newspapers, berry boxes, etc., etc., for this 
worthy purpose. Here's a simple little device that 
may be of help to some of my gar- 
den friends : Take some stout paper 
(tar paper is good), cut it in the 
form illustrated, fold it together and 
tack on the seam to a light stick ; 
then adjust the "hood'' over a newly- 
set plant. A hundred hoods can be made quickly 
and cheaply. 

Dibbers, etc., for Traxsplaxtixg. — The trans- 
planting tool used by many gardeners is a short, 
pointed stick, called a "dibber" or ''dibble," and hav- 
ing a handle of any convenient shape. L. H. Bailey, 
in his book, Principles of Vegetable Gardening, says : 
'In the working hand hold the dibber ; in the other 
hand hold the plant ; the plant is lowered into a hole 
made by the dibber (which makes a hole but does 
not remove the earth). (The earth is best closed 
about the plant by inserting the dibber alongside of 
it, an inch or so distant, and then giving the handle 
a quick push toward the plant — thus pushing soil 
into the first hole while the plant is held in place with 
the other hand.) It is customary to have a boy 
carry the plants in a covered basket or box, and to 
drop them just ahead of the planters. One boy ordi- 
narily will drop for two rows of planters ; he should 
not drop faster than the plants are required. Set 
the plants deep. Gardeners usually prefer to set 




36 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



them to the seed-leaf, even though they were an inch 
or two higher than this in the original seedbed. This 



about the plant to afford a surface mulch. In larger 
operations a tank on wheels is drawn through the 
fields * * * Transplanting machines drawn by horses 
are now becoming popular for large-area practise, 
and these are supplied with a watering device * * * 
A quick man can transplant from 5,000 to 6,000 plants 
in a day, if the soil is light and in good condition. 
Ten acres of cabbage plants sometimes may be set 
in a day by means of a horse machine." 

Other tools besides dibbers and horse machines 
are often used in transplanting. For instance, straw- 
berry plants are frequently set with a spade ; and 
many gardeners mark out deep furrows for tomatoes, 
etc., put manure and fertilizer where plants are to 
go, mix it with the soil, and then set the plants with 
the aid of a spade, trowel or hoe, and a boy or man 
to carry the plants and hold them in place. (A pic- 
ture in Chapter XIV shows how this method of 
fertilizing tomatoes is done.) 

After the plants are set, always start the hoe or 
cultivator and level the ground nicely. 

Outdoor Sowing of Seeds. — Now we have gotten 




THREE KINDS OF 
DIBBERS 



deep planting holds the plants in 
position and places the roots in 
the moist and cool earth. Press 
the earth firmly about the roots 
and crown; this is very impor- 
tant. If the ground and season 
are very dry, have the boy fol- 
low with a pail and put a dipper- 
ful of water about each plant. 
After the water soaks away, the 
dry loose earth should be drawn 



SOWING AND PLANTING 



37 



away from plant-setting, and will consider the sow- 
ing of seeds in drills or hills in the open ground. 
What has already been said about marking and fur- 
rowing, applies here, too — if you wish to drop seed 
by hand. The furrower will do for potatoes, peas, 
etc., and the marker for other crops. (Cover the 
furrows, after sowing, with a hoe or a one-horse 
plow ; or rig your cultivator with side shovels — tak- 
ing off the back and front teeth — so that it will 
throw the dirt into the furrow from both sides.) 
Fine seeds may be sown in hills, shallow drills 
or marks, and covered with a hand hoe or a wheel 
hoe. 

The easiest and nicest way to sow small seeds, 
however, is to use a machine planter, seeder or drill. 
There are very excellent and inexpensive hand drills 
or seeders made, that will sow almost any kind of 
seed in continuous drills, or drop seed at regular 
intervals of one, two, or several, inches apart — ac- 
cording to the way you set the machinery. These 
machines open and cover the furrow, can be regu- 
lated to sow seed plentifully or sparingly, and the 
hill-dropping feature saves seed and considerable 
after-thinning in the rows. There is a hand-power 
onion-seeder now on the market that sows the seeds 
at the right distance apart, tZK.'o rozvs at a time — 
thus saving much thinning and half the walking and 
time. There are hand corn-planters, hand potato- 
planters, machine corn or potato-planters pulled by 
horses, and, in fact, handy planters and sow^ers for 
every purpose. Most of these drills and machines 
have a marker which marks the next row ; thus, if 
you get the first row straight with a line, the others 
will correspond (see full-page illustration facing be- 
ginning of this chapter). Always test the drill on a 



HIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



board or barn floor, and regulate it to drop correctly 
before using it in the field. 

Varieties to Plant. — Every locality has its 
favorite varieties. In a general b9ok, such as mine, 
it is not feasible to give long lists of varieties ; the 
best I can do is to mention, in the different chapters 
about vegetables, etc., a few standard varieties that 
do v^ell almost anywhere. Write to your state ex- 
periment station and ask for a list of varieties best 
suited to local climate and soil. As for new kinds — 
''novelties" — go slow. Try a few in a small way 
each season, but don't discard the time-tested varie- 
ties until a novelty is proved to be better. 

Time to Sow. — This varies, of course, in the dif- 
ferent sections of the country. Consult the chapters 
about vegetables, etc., where approximate dates suited 
to the latitude of Pennsylvania are given. Allow 
about five days' difference for each lOO mxiles north 
or south of this latitude. 

Rotation of Crops. — Supposing that you were i 
a radish or a melon and had to grow up every sum- 
mer in the same spot in the same little field, eat the 
same food, and fight the same old bugs and fungous 
diseases year after year — well, wouldn't you get tired 
and stunted and hungry for a change of air, scene ] 
and food? Of course! Then don't forget to change i 
the location of the different crops each season. Fol- i 
low corn with potatoes, or beets, or something else, 
but don't follow corn with corn, or potatoes with j 
potatoes. Systematic rotation of crops is a great ] 
help in the fight against insects and fungi. ; 

"Puddling" means to dip the roots of dug plants i 
in thin mud, preliminary to transplanting into the \ 
open field. In very dry weather this process helps to ' 
keep the roots from drying. j 



SOWING AXD PLAXTIXG 



39 



E. R. Jinnette, of Illinois, and many other mar- 
ket gardeners, say that it is quite important to cut 
or "shear off" the top one-third or one-half of the 
leaves of celery, cabbage, etc., before transplanting 
to the open held. 

SPROUTS 

Nothing bvit experience can teach the air requirements 
of plants in hotbeds or coldf rames. \\'atch the thermometer, 
the sun, and the wind's direction, and raise or lower or take 
ott the sash accordingly. 

"I do not use a hotbed," sa3'-s H. E. Haydock, a suc- 
cessful Xew York State gardener. "I find that a number of 
shallow boxes in a sunny room answer every purpose in 
starting the tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, etc., that I intend 
to raise." 

A wide, iron garden rake and three or 
four pieces of corn-cob make an easily-con- 
structed garden marker. Wide or narrow 
spaces may be marked at will, by changing 
the cobs. (See cut.) 

Soaking seeds of slow germination, as the beet, parsnip, 
carrot, etc., is practised sometimes with good results. With 
the proper seedbed, however, soaking is seldom necessary, 
especially if the ground is thoroughly ''firmed'" after plant- 
ing. This may be done with the feet, the back of a hoe, or 
by rolling, and is a very important operation. 

You can not be too critical in procuring good seed. The 
seedsmen who advertise in my favorite paper, the Farm 
Journal, are extremely careful about the quality of their 
stock, and take great pains to have it true to name. It is 
usually safer to buy fresh seed every year, and not more 
than is needed for each season. Place your order early. 

Many gardeners on a small scale do not care to bother 
with growing plants in hotbeds and coldframes, and so buy 
such plants ready-grown. This is often the cheapest way 
udien only a few dozen tomato, cabbage, celery, pepper and 
similar plants are needed for setting outdoors. \'arieties of 
vegetables that are not usually transplanted (such as carrots, 
corn, potatoes, etc.) of course need no preliminary hotbed or 
coldframe growth. 




40 



HIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



Don't blame the seedsman if you sow tender things, like 
peppers, tomatoes, etc., too early in hotbeds with insufficient 
heat, and then find that most of the seeds rot. Nor do not 
blame him if seeds sown outdoors rot because the soil 
is too cold or wet; nor because insufficient moisture in the 
ground fails to cause germination. Buy the best seed and 
place your order early. 



Hardiness of Vegetables: Beans, melons, cucumbers, 
corn, tomatoes, squash, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, eggplant, 
peppers and okra are all very "tender" and easily harmed by 
a slight frost; they should not be set outdoors in the North 
until the weather is warm and settled. Other vegetables, 
properly handled, will endure more or less frost and cold, 
and are therefore called "hardy." Some of the latter, how- 
ever, are more hardy than others — onions and peas are espe- 
cially proof against cold. 



The seeds of some vegetables possess greater vitality than 
others. The pioneer gardener, Peter Henderson, claimed that 
peas, beans, peppers, carrots, corn, eggplant, okra, salsify, 
thyme, sage and rhubarb are safe for only about two years; 
asparagus, endive, lettuce, parsley, spinach and radish are 
safe for about three years; broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, 
celery and turnip are safe for perhaps five years, while the 
beet, cucumber, melon, pumpkin, squash and tomato may 
retain their vitality for six years or more. 

Three important objects are gained by transplanting to 
coldframes before setting in the field: The plants are hard- 
ened or accustomed to a lower temperature; and, second, 
their roots are toughened by the move, and so suffer less 
when the final move is made to the open field; and, third, 
they are given, in the coldframe, more room to grow wide 
and stocky. Growers who want extra-large, stocky tomato 
plants, etc., sometimes transplant them several times, each 
time giving them more space in the frames. 

**In field culture, the most important matter in the 
germination of seeds is the supply of moisture," says an 
expert. "Satisfactory germination can not be secured with an 
insufficient amount of soil moisture. Thorough preparation 
of the ground is essential. It is also necessary to firm the 
soil after sowing, drilling or planting. _A firm seedbed, 
bringing the seed into intimate contact with moist soil, is 
the secret of quick germination, provided the ground is 
warm and the depth of covering not too great. The proper 
depth depends upon the variety." (See chapters about vege- 
tables, etc.) 



SOWING AND PLANTING 



41 



V 




Plant labels are often wanted in the garden, but as 
ordinarily made are usually soon rendered unreadable by 
the action of rain and sun. Seedsmen sell excellent and 
durable metal labels, but they are not very cheap. Here's 
a good idea from Prairie Farmer: Cut two 
pieces of lath (as shown in the illustration), 
and fasten together at top with one tiny clinched 
nail — so that the short piece of protecting cover 
will swing. Only the part to be written on 
need be smooth. The name may be written in 
pencil, or the printed name from the seed envel- 
ope may be glued on. The labels may be used 
many seasons, gluing fresh names over, or 
erasing and rewriting. 

Here's a method of raising flower plants, melons, etc., 
in the house for transplanting outdoors, without the expense 
of buying pots. Take old fruit cans 
and unsolder them in the fire. Tie 
the tins together with a stout string, 
and set them on a board (see pic- 
ture). Fill with earth and plant 
seeds. When ready to transplant, 
cut the string, and the earth with 
its mass of roots can be lifted and 
set in a hole in the ground, without disturbing the roots 
in the least degree. The tin, of course, flies open when the 
string is cut. (Some gardeners start early melons, etc., 
indoors on inverted thick pieces of sod.) 

Usually it is cheaper and better to buy seed than to 
attempt to grow and save it. Sometimes, however, there are 
advantages in home saving, and many successful gardeners 
produce at least one or two kinds of seed at home. But 
unless a man is making a specialty of something, and is 
located in a place where its seeds are at their best, I doubt 
the advantage of home-grown seed. Good seed means careful 
yearly selection; good judgment; knowledge of the variety; 
a S3^stematic discarding or "roguing'' of undesirable speci- 
mens; and an ideal type in mind, toward which the strain 
is constantly pushed. Remember that the tendency of 
improved kinds of plants is to deteriorate or revert to 
early types, and only a careful annual selection and ''weeding 
out" can prevent a backward tendency. Plants, like animals, 
may be "bred up," but it requires patience and skill to do it. 
If you plant little potatoes ever}^ year, or select inferior 
tomatoes for seed, or have seed melons where squash pollen 
can mix with them, good results are not likely to be attained. 
Keep most seeds that you save in a mouse-proof, insect-proof 
tin box in a dry place; seed corn on the ear should be hung 
up by the husks, in the attic; seed potatoes need to be kept 
in a dark, cold cellar, or stored in an outdoor pit. 



Chapter IV 



FERTILIZATIOX. CULTIVATION 
IRRIGATION 

Spare the zcccds and spoil fJie crop; 
Stint the food and groz^'tJi zcill stop. 

HERE are many kinds of fertiliz- 
ing materials, and all are useful in 
some way and in some degree ; 
only experience and observation 
can show which are best for your 
soil and your crops. In a general 
way, however, I will say that 
there is no better all-purpose fer- 
tilizer than stable manure — all you 
can get of it, say from ten to twenty tons to the acre. 
Haul it on the ground in winter and early spring, 
and spread it as it is hauled ; plow it under, and 
then broadcast (to each acre) about 400 pounds of 
kainit (a commercial form of potash), and about 
600 pounds of finely ground bone meal ; harrow this 
in, and you have a very good, complete mixture which 
contains all essential elements of plant food. Or, 
if you desire, you can substitute muriate or sulphate 
of potash for the kainit, or twenty-five bushels of 
unleached hardwood ashes ; or phosphates or super- 
phosphates may be substituted for the bone. 

If stable manure can not be obtained, and if 
there is sufficient humus in the soil, buy a high-grade, 
complete, ready-mixed, commercial fertilizer — the 
best you can get, not the cheapest — and broadcast it 




44 



BIGGLE GARDEX BOOK 



on plo\ved land at the rate of about 1,200 pounds 
to the acre (more or less according to the soil and 
the crop). Or, if you care to bother with the home 
mixing of such a fertilizer, you can buy the separate 
ingredients, mix them yourself, and perhaps save 
some money. Write to the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. C, and ask for free 
Farmers' Bulletins Xos. 44, 192, 245, 257 and 278, 
and you will obtain full information on this and 
kindred subjects. 

Humus. — This has to do with the mechanical 
condition of the soil. Humus is deca^/ed vegetable 
matter, without which any soil is almost worthless. 
Humus separates the soil particles, makes the ground 
mellow and loose, and aids it to retain moisture and 
air. A soil without humus is dead, airless, and either 
dry and hard as a stone, or a sticky mass of mud. 
Therefore, stable manure has a value aside from its 
fertilizing contents — i. e., its ability to supply humus 
to the soil. LeaA'es, straw, or an}^ decaying vegeta- 
tion, would answer the same purpose. If these things 
can not be had, then the gardener must occasionally 
grow some crop like clover, rye, vetch, oats, etc., 
which can be plowed under and thus furnish the 
necessary humus. 

Cover Crops. — By these are meant humus- 
making crops which are sown broadcast after vege- 
tables, etc., are off, and which then grow through the 
fall, cover and protect the ground through the win- 
ter, and are plowed under in the spring in time for 
regular garden planting. Red clover, or sand vetch, 
or rye, or oats and crimson clover combined, etc., 
may be used for this purpose. A ''catch crop" is 
the same as a cover crop, only it is sown at the last 
cultivation, before the vegetables are off. 



FERTILIZATIOX. CULTIVATION. IRRIGATION 45 



Nitrogenous Crops. — Nitrogen is the most ex- 
pensive of all fertilizing elements, but if the gardener 
can not afford to buy enough of it (in stable manure 
or nitrate of soda, etc.) he can supplement his supply- 
by producing it right at home. How ? By the sim.ple 
process of growing some crop which has the ability 
to extract nitrogen from the air and store it up in 
the form of nodules or lumps on its roots. Plants 
of this kind are called "legumes" ; the principal ones 
are : Clover, vetch, beans, peas and cowpeas. Any 
one of these, if planted as a cover crop or as a crop 
to plow under, adds nitrogen to the soil and greatly 
improves the land. This process is called "green 
manuring," and if the garden is not full of humus 
and if stable manure can not be had to supply nitro- 
gen cheaply, it may pay you to spend a preliminary 
season in the growing and turning under of such 
crops — supplementing the nitrogen thus obtained by 
broadcast applications of potash and bone meal in the 
spring, and lime in the fall. (Note: Oats, rye, etc., 
furnish humus but no nitrogen ; legumes furnish 
both.) 

Nitrate of Soda. — ]\Iuch is heard about the quick 
results produced by this nitrogenous fertilizer, but 
unless it is handled with great carefulness I can not 
recommend its use. Harriet says that it is "more 
like a stimulant than a food." It must be applied in 
small doses often. Yes, and with care — or you'll kill 
your plants. About lOO pounds at a dose to the acre 
is usually enough, and, generally speaking, it should 
not come in direct contact with plants. (Nitrogen 
may also be purchased in the form of dried blood, 
guano, tankage, cotton seed meal, sulphate of am- 
monia, etc.) 

Liquid Manure. — This, like nitrate of soda, is a 



46 



HIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



quick Stimulant (but usually a safe one in this case). 
1. M. Angell, New York State, contributes the fol- 
lowing experience : ''A satisfactory, plan for sup- 
plying the manure water, was to set a large per- 
forated tin pail into a rack that was fastened across 
the top of an ordinary wash-tub. A spigot was fitted 
into the wash-tub near the bottom. Whenever liquid 
manure was required, a quantity of manure from the 
stable was placed in the tin pail and enough water 
poured through it to fill the wash-tub into which it 
drained. By turning the spigot we drew ofT into a 
pail whatever we wished to carry to the plants. This 
'filter' has been in use several seasons and is entirely 
satisfactory. The manure is rich enough to supply 
a number of tubfuls of the mixture before it is 
necessary to replace it. To apply the liquid manure 
we turned up a furrow with the hand plow, close 
to the row, poured in the water, and turned back the 
soil with the same tool. This method puts the liquid 
where it will do the most good, and the loose earth 
that is returned to its place makes the best sort of 
mulch ; and by the same operation the ground re- 
ceives cultivation. Nitrate of soda may be used in 
the same way on such a garden. Our method is to 
mix one pound with enough water to wet lOO feet 
of row. By the time the garden has all received a 
share, perhaps in the course of several days, the first 
vegetables treated will be ready for another dose." 

Lime. — Some soils are ''sour." Lime will correct 
this acidity and sweeten things generally, besides 
helping to unlock and make available the stores of 
fertility which may be in the ground. Applied to 
stiff clay soils, it renders them loose and friable; 
while it binds together sandy soils, thus making 
them more retentive of moisture and fertility. Take 



FERTILIZATION. CULTIVATION. IRRIGATION 47 



fresh stone lime, slack it with water until it becomes 
a dry powder, then broadcast it in fall or early spring 
and work it into the soil. The quantity to apply per 
acre varies from twenty to forty or more bushels. 
Farmers' Bulletin No. 77, U. S. Department of Agri- 
culture, Washington, D. C, explains this matter fully. 
Better get a copy. Harriet has mine safely filed away 
in the desk in my room, and I shouldn't like to 
spare it. 

Composts. — For flower pots, small gardens, hot- 
beds, coidframes, window gardens, etc., a well-made 
compost is very useful. It is simply a mixture of 
ordinary soil with well-rotted sods, stable manure, 
leaves, or any other available vegetable matter. Pile 
the various ingredients in a long, low pile outdoors 
and fork it over several times at intervals, thus fining 
and mixing all thoroughly together and hastening 
decomposition. A little freshly-slaked lime added 
to the mass is an advantage. The pile may be 
started in the fall, or whenever desired, and should 
be ready for use in six months or a year (according 
to materials used). Some gardeners put potato and 
tomato vines, etc., on the compost pile — any waste 
stuff, in fact — but if there are any blights or fun- 
gous diseases in the garden, 'twould be safer to burn 
such vine and plant refuse than to use it in a com- 
post and thus spread the trouble. 

Cultivation. — The offices of tillage are several. 
Among the more important ones are : 

1. The setting free of plant food by increasing 
the chemical activities in the soil. 

2. The soil is made finer and hence presents 
greater surfaces to the roots, thus increasing the area 
from which the roots can absorb nutriment. 

3. The surface of the soil is kept in such condi- 



48 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



tion that it immediately absorbs all the rain that falls 
during the summer, when it is apt to be dry. Little 
is lost by surface drainage. 

4. Moisture is conserved thereby. Where the 
surface remains undisturbed for weeks the soil be- 
comes packed, so that the moisture from below 
readily passes to the surface and is evaporated, thus 
being lost to the growing crop. If the surface is 
kept light and loose by tillage, so that the capillarity 
is broken, but little of the soil moisture comes to the 
surface and evaporation is not so great. In this way 
nearly all the moisture remains in the soil, where it 
can be used by the roots. 

5. Thorough tillage has a tendency to cause 
deeper rooting of the roots. The surface of the soil 
is made drier by tillage during the early part of the 
season than it would otherwise be ; hence the roots 
go where the soil is moist. The advantage of deep 
rooting during drought is obvious. 

6. Weeds and grass are kept out — and we all 
know the importance of this. 

Mulching. — There are two kinds of miulch — the 
''dust mulch" caused by regular surface cultivation, 
and the mulch which is applied in the form of straw, 
leaves, stable manure, or similar materials. For 
nearly all purposes I prefer and use the "dust mulch." 
The main object of mulching during the growing 
season is to prevent the evaporation of moisture in 
the soil, and shallow cultivation does that effectively; 
and does not, like other forms of mulch, furnish 
breeding places for insects and fungi. In special in- 
stances, however, a mulch of litter is a good thing. 
For instance : Straw, etc., will keep strawberries 
clean in a fruiting bed; currant bushes root so near 
the surface that ordinary cultivation often injures 



FERTILIZATIOX. 



CULTIVATION. 



IRRIGATION 



49 



the roots, and therefore a light working of the soil 
in spring followed by a heavy mulch of stable 
manure, etc., is an excellent plan to follow ; in the 
fall a mulch of strawy manure, etc., protects and 
fertilizes the roots of vines, plants, bushes, etc., dur- 
ing cold weather, and prevents the alternate freezing 
and thawing which causes plants to "heave'' out of 
the ground more or less. 

Implements for Cultivation. — For a small gar- 
den I should choose a medium-sized, ordinary-shaped 
hand hoe : a single-wheel hoe and its various attach- 
ments of tiny rakes, cultivator teeth, plows, etc. ; 
one wide, iron hand rake (s^y about sixteen teeth), 
and a narrow one with not more than eight teeth ; 
and one or two of the claw-like hand weeders here 
illustrated. In addition I should buy an extra hand 
hoe and cut it with a tile into the shape shewn by 




HAND WEEDERS A REMODELED HOE SCUFFLE HOES 



the dotted lines in the accompanying picture; this 
kind of a hoe is very useful at times, especially in the 
strawberry patch. The narrow rake mentioned, can, 
in mellow ground, often be used easier and to better 
advantage than any hoe. 

Some gardeners prefer one style of wheel hoe, 
some another ; there are several good makes on the 
market and the amateur can not go far astray if he 
buys any one of them. But I should not advise the 
purchase of the combinations of seeder and wheel 



50 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 




THE OXE-HORSE CULTIVATOR IS THE THING 
FOR MEDIUM-SIZED AREAS 



hoe, etc., which 
are on the mar- 
ket ; buy your 
seed planter 
s e p a r a t e 1 3^ A 
w heel hoe, if 
rightly used, is a 
great labor- 
saver; but do 
not think that 
you can push 
one steadily 
along like a horse 
cultivator — it 

should be sent forward with a series of little, quick 
pushes, an inch or so at a time. The single-w^heel hoe 
is mostly used for work between rows ; the double- 
wheel hoe is especially adapted for straddling and 
working on both sides of a row. Of the two styles, for 
ordinary use, I personally prefer the single wheel — it 
is lighter, cheaper to buy, and easier to operate ; but 
many truckers and onion growers prefer the double 
wheel for large areas. 

For the larger gar- 
den, or commercial truck 
field, I should want an 
assortment of hoes of dif- 
ferent shapes and sizes, a 
double-wheel hoe, a good 
one-horse cultivator for 
working between two 
rows, and (if the area 
were large enough) a two- 
horse cultivator for work- 
ing two rows at once. 




OK SMALL AREAS THE HAND 
WHEEL HOE TAKES THE 
PLACE OF A HORSE 
CULTIVATOR 



FERTILIZATION. CULTIVATION. IRRIGATION 5I 




There are various makes of good cultivators on the 
market. I own three kinds, each adapted to one 
horse : An iron- frame, 
a d j u s t a b 1 e-v^heel, five- 
tooth cultivator ; a twelve- 
tooth machine ; and one 
with five spring-teeth. All 
have their uses and all 
are adjustable to depth 
and width. The first men- 
tioned implement has sev- for large areas the two- 

pral attachments side horse cultivator is 

erai auacnmenis ^ ^ ^ sometimes best 

'"shovels," side ''sweeps,' 

rear "hoes," etc. — which are often helpful for special 
needs ; the flat, wide, surface-skimming sweep attach- 
ments are particularly good for killing such weeds 
as thistles, which are apt to dodge and escape the 
ordinary cultivator tooth. 

Thinning Plants. — This often necessary work 
must be done by hand early, when the seedlings are 
quite small. To get a sure "stand" of plants it is 
usual to sow more seeds in the hill or to put them 
closer together in the row than is advisable for the 
plants' later good, and then to thin or pull or cut out 
the surplus plants when the stand is assured. The 
distance apart to thin depends upon the variety; for 
hints on distances, consult the chapters on vegetables. 

Irrigation. — In regions of normal rainfall, arti- 
ficial watering of gardens is seldom practised or 
necessary. Cultivation, under normal conditions, con- 
serves sufficient moisture for the average plant's 
needs. In California and some other states, irrigation 
is a necessity. Folks who need to practise this 
method should write to the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. C, and ask for free 



52 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



Farmers' Bulletins Nos. 46, 116, 138, 158 and 263. 
'Twould be impossible, here, to give full information 
on this subject. But a few general hints are in 
order : If you must water plants, etc., or if the 
season is so abnormally dry that regular rainfall 
and cultivation does not suffice, remember that one 
good soaking is worth many surface sprinklings. 
Endeavor to apply the water toward evening, and 
cultivate (or mulch) the surface as soon as possible 




DIFFERENT KINDS OF HOES ON A HANDY 
NOTCHED RACK 



the next day. If the water supply is limited (and it 
usually is), do not apply it to the surface but in fur- 
rows opened alongside the plants (as directed under 
head of Liquid Manure in this chapter), then, when 
the water has soaked in, cultivate the soil back into 
place. Do not sprinkle water on plants when the sun 
is shining hot. Don't think that you can irrigate a 
big field with an ordinary wind-mill outfit — it takes 
a tremendous quantity of water to soak even one 
acre. 

HINTS FROM EXPERIENCE 

Sharp hoes make short work. Carry a file and apply it 
often. Learn to use a hoe so as to leave the ground sniootJi. 
Keep hoes clean. 

Do not mix lime with fertilizers, nor wood ashes with 
hen manure. Why? Because the valuable ammonia (a 
form of nitrogen) would thus be set loose and would escape. 



FERTILIZATION. 



CULTIVATION. 



IRRIGATION 



53 



Hen manure is good for the garden, but it is very 
strong and should not be applied too freely nor in contact 
with the roots. In fact, all fertilizers and manures should 
be well mixed with the soil, so that it will not hurt the roots. 

The important thing in any garden is not to allow the 
weeds to get a start. They are easily kept down when young 
by stirring the soil, but once allowed to gain headway, the 
labor of fighting them is greatly increased. Weeds kill 
easiest when the sun shines hot. 

Stable manure is not a perfectly-balanced ration for 
plants, because it contains rather too much nitrogen and not 
quite enough of the other essentials. Therefore it should be 
"balanced" by the addition of potash and phosphoric acid (as 
advised in the forepart of this chapter). 

A "complete" fertilizer must contain these three ingredi- 
ents: Nitrogen, phosphoric acid, potash. A well-balanced 
commercial mixture suitable for average garden purposes 
should analyze about as follows: Nitrogen, four per cent.; 
phosphoric acid, eight per cent. ; potash, ten per cent. 

Market gardeners sometimes use a special form of a hoe 
called a "scuffle" hoe. It derives its name from the way it 
is scuffled or shufP.ed back and forth close to the surface, 
doing quick work in killing weeds and leaving an even sur- 
face. But it is not adapted to loosening up the soil. 

The advised quantities of fertilizers per acre mentioned 
in this chapter aren't of much help to a reader who has only 
a small garden patch. So here's a rule to help him to figure 
out the matter to meet his own requirements: i,ooo pounds 
to the acre is six and one-quarter pounds to each square rod. 

It is generally best to practise shallow cultivation. I 
usually set my horse cultivator to run about two inches deep; 
this plan best conserves moisture, and avoids all danger of 
cutting roots. Once in ten days is not too often to cultivate; 
and always, after a rain, the ground should be stirred with 
cultivator, rake or hoe as soon as dry enough to work. 

Several times in this chapter I have referred to "broad- 
casting" fertilizers. This can be done by hand with a shovel, 
or by the aid of a machine fertilizer spreader. Better yet, 
the fertilizer can be drilled in with an ordinary grain drill 
or with_ a special fertilizer drill — thus requiring no "har- 
rowing in" afterward. Some gardeners find that it is more 
economical to _ apply fertilizers and manure only to the row 
or the hill; this plan certainly saves fertilizer, but it requires 
more fuss and work. 



54 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



It is an easy matter to determine whether a soil needs 
lime. Five cents will buy at a drug store enough blue litmus 
paper to test a large field. Cut the paper into narrow strips 
and make tests in different parts of the field by pressing 
the moist soil into close contact with the paper. If the paper 
turns red in a few minutes, a sour soil is indicated and 
lime should be applied. The degree of acidity will be shown 
by the extent to which the blue paper turns to red. A 
growth of sorrel is often an indication of a sour soil. The 
plowing under of heavy green crops usually causes sourness 
and necessitates applications of lime. 

Guiding a horse cultivator: Some folks have difiictilty 
in the double duty of holding the handles and managing the 
reins. A steady, slow-walking horse is required, and you'll 
need to buckle or tie on an extension to the length of 
ordinary lines. To operate, buckle or tie the lines, together, 
put them around the upper part of your body beneath both 
arms, and have the lines just long enough to be gently taut 
as you hold to the cultivator handles and walk along. Thus 
adjusted, a slight twist of the body either way will guide 
the horse to right or left as may be required; and at the end 
of the row a touch on the lines with the hand will "gee" 
or *'haw" him around for the return trip. Soon he'll learn 
the work and keep his proper place almost automatically. 
If at first he walks too fast, lean back steadily on the lines 
until he learns a slower pace. Always cultivate each aisle 
between two rows, twice — up on one side and back on the 
other; keeping the same order in each aisle, so that the horse 
will learn which side to walk on. _ Few people can do good 
work by cultivating through an aisle just once and trying 
to watch both rows. 




IRRIGATION ! 



Chapter V 



SPRAYING. F0R3.IULAS. GARDEN PESTS 
AXD FRIENDS 

Many a man z^'ho imagines he could conquer the zcorld 
and all the folks iji it, can't ei'cn nuDiage the pests in the 
garden. — Dorothy Tucker. 

PRAYING mixtures are divided 
into two classes : Fungicides and 
insecticides. Often, however, I 
find that it is practicable to unite 
the two into one spray — and thus 
fight both fungus and insects at 
the one operation. A mixture of 
Bordeaux solution and an arsen- 
ical poison, is a good example of 
such a combination. Bordeaux 
mixture is the best and most useful of all known 
fungicides for general use. 

Fungicides. — Bordeaux mixture is made by tak- 
ing four pounds of sulphate of copper, four pounds 
of quicklime, fifty gallons of water. First, dissolve 
the copper sulphate. The easiest, quickest way to 
do this, is to put it into a coarse cloth bag and sus- 
pend the bag in a receptacle partly filled with w^ater. 
Next, slake the lime in a tub, and strain the milk of 
lime thus obtained into another receptacle. Now get 
someone to help you, and, with buckets, simul- 
taneously pour the two liquids into the spraying 
barrel or tank. Lastly, add sufficient water to make 
fifty gallons. 'Tis safe to use this full-strength Bor- 




56 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



deaux on almost all foliage — except, perhaps, on 
extra-tender things such as watermelon vines, peach 
trees, etc. For these it is wiser to use the following 
half-strength mixture : Two pounds of copper sul- 
phate, two pounds of quicklime, fifty gallons of 
w^ater. 

Formalin : This is also called formaldehyde, 
and may be purchased at drug stores. Its principal 
use in the garden is to treat seed potatoes to prevent 
a fungous disease of the tubers called "scab." Soak 
the whole seed for two hours in a mixture of one- 
half pint of formalin and fifteen gallons of cold 
water ; dry the seed, cut, and plant in ground that has 
not recently grown potatoes. 

Powdered sulphur : For mildew on rose leaves, 
gooseberry bushes, etc. Dust or blow it on when the 
plants are wet. 

Bordeaux Combined with Insect Poison. — By 
adding one-quarter pound of Paris green to each 
fifty gallons of either of the Bordeaux formulas, the 
mixture becomes a combined fungicide and insecti- 
cide. Or, instead of Paris green, add about two 
pounds of arsenate of lead (an excellent commer- 
cial form of this, called ''Disparene," is for sale by 
seedsmen). The advantages of arsenate of lead 
over Paris green are, first, it is not apt to burn 
foliage even if used in rather excessive quantities ; 
and, second, it "sticks" to the foliage, etc.. better 
and longer. 

Insecticides. — Sometimes I find it desirable to 
apply a treatment for insects alone, without the 
bother of making the regulation Bordeaux. Here 
are a few standard formulas suited for chewing 
insects : 

Paris green : Two pounds of quicklime, one- 



SPRAYING. FORMULAS. PESTS AND FRIENDS 57 

quarter pound of Paris green, fifty gallons of water. 
The lime helps to neutralize the caustic action of 
Paris green on tender foliage ; potato vines are so 
tough, however, that in their case the lime may be 
omitted, if desired. Keep mixture well agitated while 
spraying. (Xot so safe as arsenate of lead on very 
tender foliage.) 

Arsenate of lead : This can be made at home, 
as follows : Take twelve ounces of acetate of lead, 
four ounces of arsenate of soda, and fifty gallons of 
water. Put the acetate of lead into a gallon of water 
in a wooden pail ; in another wooden pail put the 
arsenate of soda in two quarts of water. When both 
are dissolved, pour them together into the spray 
tank containing the required amount of water. A 
white precipitate of lead arsenate immediately forms 
in the tank and the mixture is ready to be applied. 
This remains in suspension longer than Paris green. 
The ready-prepared commercial form called "Dis- 
parene" simply needs dissolving in water — about two 
pounds to fifty gallons of water. (For rose-bugs use 
ten pounds.) 

White hellebore : This, if fresh, may be used 
instead of Paris green in some cases— worms on cur- 
rant and gooseberry bushes, for instance. (It is not 
such a powerful poison as the arsenites, and would 
not do so well for tough insects such as potato 
bugs.) Dissolve one ounce in three gallons of 
water, and use as a spray. 

For Sucking Insects. — Xow we come to another 
class of insecticides, suited to insects which suck a 
plant's juices but do not chew. Arsenic will not kill 
such pests ; therefore we must resort to solutions 
wdiich kill by contact. Here are some of the best- 
known recipes of this kind : 



58 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



Kerosene emulsion : One-half pound of hard 
or one quart of soft soap ; kerosene, two gallons ; 
boiling soft water, one gallon. If hard soap is used, 
slice it fine and dissolve in water by boiling; add the 
boiling . solution (away from the fire) to the kero- 
sene, and stir or violently churn for from five to 
eight minutes, until the mixture assumes a creamy 
consistency. If a spray pump is at hand, pump the 
mixture back upon itself with considerable force 
for about five minutes. Keep this as a stock. It 
must be further diluted with soft water before using. 
One part of emulsion to fifteen parts of water is 
about right for lice. 

Carbolic-acid emulsion : This is made by dis- 
solving one pound of hard soap or one quart of soft 
soap in a gallon of boiling water, to which one pint 
of crude carbolic acid is added, the whole being 
stirred into an emulsion. One part of this is added 
to about thirty-five parts of water and poured 
around the bases of the plants, about four ounces 
per plant at each application, beginning when the 
plants are set out and repeated every week or ten 
days until the last of May. To bring about the best 
results, some of the earth should be removed from 
about the plants before pouring on the emulsion. 
Used to fight maggots in the soil. 

Whale-oil soap solution : Dissolve one pound 
of whale-oil soap in a gallon of hot water, and dilute 
with about six gallons of cold water. This is a good 
application for aphis (lice), and scale on house 
plants, lilacs, etc. 

Tobacco tea : This solution may be prepared by 
placing five pounds of tobacco stems in a water- 
tight vessel, and then covering them with three gal- 
lons of hot water. Allow to stand several hours ; 



SPRAYING. FORMULAS. PESTS AND FRIENDS 59 



dilute the liquor by adding about seven gallons of 
water. Strain and apply. Good for lice on peas, 
roses, etc. 

Buhach : This is also known as pyrethrum, or 
Persian insect powder. The best is called California 
buhach; the imported powder is not so fresh as a 
rule and therefore not so strong. It may be used as 
a dry powder, dusted on with a powder bellows when 
the plants are wet ; or one ounce of it may be dis- 
solved in three gallons of water, and sprayed on the 
plants at any time. It is often used on flowers, in 
greenhouses, on vegetables, etc. Although a contact 
poison, it can in some cases be used instead of the 
more dangerous arsenites — on cabbages, for instance, 
to kill the cabbage worm. 

Fir-tree oil : An effective remedy against mealy 
bug, red spider, thrip, green fly, etc., on household 
plants, and in greenhouses, etc. Seedsmen sell it, 
and directions for use accompany it. 

Spray Pumps, etc. — A good spraying outfit is 
an essential part of a gardener's requirements. The 
kind of an outfit to buy de- 



hand atomizer (see picture) 

will answer the purpose. These hand atomizer for 



seedsmen and implement dealers sell them for about 
75 cents if made of tin; brass, about $1.25. 

A large powder-bellows for applying buhach, 
sulphur, etc., outdoors, costs about $3.00 — smaller 
sizes for indoor use are cheaper. (A less satisfac- 



pends, of course, on the size of 
your garden and the plants to 
be sprayed. If you have only 
a small patch, a few square 
rods in size, perhaps a cheap 




hold a quart of liquid, and 



SMALL GARDENS 



6o 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 




POWDER BELLOWS 



tory but often-used method of applying the powder, 
is to punch numerous small 
holes in the bottom of a small 
tin pail, fill with the powder, 
and then shake it over the 
plants when they are wet.) 

If the garden is more than a "small patch," and 
yet not too large, doubtless one of the new-style, 
compressed-air, shoulder-strap sprayers (sold by 
seedsmen and implement dealers) will answer the 
purpose (see illustration). 

Or, if the area is ex- 
tensive, you may require 
a barrel or tank outfit, 
mounted on the farm 
wagon and worked by 
hand; or perhaps your 
requirements may ne- 
cessitate one of the 
power outfits which are 
operated by either a 
gasoline engine, geared 
connection with wagon 
wheels, or compressed 
gas in cylinders ; some 
of these outfits are ar- 
ranged to spray several 
rows of potatoes, straw- 
berries, etc., at once (a 
four-row automatic 
sprayer is illustrated m this chapter on page 6i). 

Before deciding upon a pump, or buying one, 
take a bit of the same advice that was given in my 
Orchard Book : ''Write to advertisers in the Farm 
Journal or other farm papers, get their catalogs 




A COMPRESSED-AIR SHOULDER- 
STRAP SPRAYER. (note SPE- 
CIAL ATTACHMENT FOR 
REACHING UNDER-SIDE 
OF leaves) 



SPRAYING. FORMULAS. PESTS AND FRIENDS 6l 



and price lists, and then study and compare, and de- 
cide which suits your purpose best." 

A good pump should work easily, maintain a 
steady spray from one or several nozzles, be simple 
in construction, have non-corrosive brass working 
parts, be durable 
and able to stand 
hard use, be 
easily taken to 
pieces for re- 
pair, have pipes 
properly arranged 
to prevent clog- 
ging, and be pro- 
vided with an 
agitator which 
keeps the solu- 
tion in vigorous 
motion and thoroughly distributed. Judging a pump 
by cheapness alone is likely to be poor economy. 

Nozzles : The Vermorel nozzle is very popular ; 
so are several other makes that I have tried. The 
main thing to demand is a nozzle that will throw a 
fine mist, like steam, which settles on the plants like 
dew. A sprinkler, resulting in much "drip" upon 
the ground, is not wanted. And, too, a good nozzle 
should not clog easily, and when it does clog it 
should be quickly cleanable. (Note: All spraying 
mixtures should be strained before using, to pre- 
vent clogging the nozzles. A box, with the bottom 
and top knocked out, will make a frame for a 
strainer ; a brass-wire mesh — eighteen or twenty 
meshes to the inch — can be securely tacked around 
the bottom to complete the job.) 




A FOUR-ROW COMPRESSED-AIR MACHINE 
FOR LARGE AREAS 



62 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



HINTS 

Never spray strawberries, etc., when the}- are in blossom. 

Fungicides are not cures, but preventives. Therefore, 
such spraying should begin early in the season. 

Poultry: Harriet says that hens do not belong in all the 
garden, nor all the garden in the hens. Either fence in the 
garden or the biddies. 

Ants: These do no real harm in the garden; when 
found on plants or trees they are after lice. Ant nests in 
lawns or walks may be destroyed with hot water, bisulphide 
of carbon, or kerosene. 

Earthworms or angleworms : As a rule these well-known 
wrigglers do good rather than harm. They loosen and 
aerate the soil. Applications of lime will drive them away 
if they prove to be a nuisance in any special instance. 

Rabbits, groundhogs, etc. : In some localities, bunny is 
a decided menace to the garden. He likes a nibble of this 
or that, and he's always hungry. The same applies to ]\Ir. 
Groundhog and some other animals. A good preventive is 
a wire-netting fence, with the lower part sunk a foot be- 
neath the soil; another is a good dog, or a gun. Ground- 
hogs can be killed by putting bisulphide of carbon in their 
burrows and stopping up the entrances. 

Bisulphide of carbon: This is used to kill maggots, etc., 
in the soil, weevils in beans and peas, etc. It comes in 
liquid form and may be had of druggists. When exposed 
to the air it cjuickly vaporizes into a poisonous and explo- 
sive gas which is heavier than air and which will destro}- 
all insect or animal life. Its various uses are mentioned in 
several places in this book. Caution: Do not inhale much 
of the vapor, and allow no lights near. 'Tis a safe and 
useful remedy only when properly used. 

■ Snails: I have never, myself, had any trouble w^ith 
these, but in some places they are said to be a pest. 
T. Greiner in his How to Make the Garden Pa}^ gives the 
following remedy: "Set traps by scattering pieces of orange 
peel over the ground. Snails are so fond of this delicacj^ that 
they will remain clinging to the peel rather than go back 
to "their hiding places at break of day. Examine the traps 
every morning, and destroy the marauders." With the aid 
of a lantern they can often be found and killed at night. 



SPRAYING. FORMULAS. PESTS AND FRIENDS 63 



]\loles and field mice: These little animals burrow under- 
ground and make small, irregular ridges in lawn or garden. 
They often "follow a row" with great exactness, and there- 
fore some people suppose that moles prey on plant roots, 
seed, grain, etc. As a matter of fact the mole is after 
grubs and insects that are feeding on the roots, and, there- 
fore, he is — in this respect alone — doing the gardener a favor. 
(Experts once captured and killed a number of moles, to 
test the matter of their diet; only insects w^ere found in their 
stomachs.) But, unfortunately, Mr. Mole, in his quest for 
plant enemies, heaves up the ground, disturbs and breaks 
plant roots, and upsets things generally. So the gardener 
declares him a nuisance. The remedy? One or two mole 
traps (sold by seedsmen and implement dealers), set in the 
mole's regular runways. Field mice sometimes do injury to 
growing crops, and moles are perhaps blamed for it. Reme- 
dies: Traps, cats, poisoned bait, or the "Ratite" virus sold 
by the Pasteur Vaccine Co., New York City. 



Birds: English sparrows are often a' pest in the garden, 
eating tender shoots, leaves, etc. A few loads of fine shot 
fired at them occasionally will frighten them away. If you 
live in town where you can not fire a gun, no easy remedy 
can be suggested. Poisoned grain will kill them, but on 
account of the danger to pet animals and beneficial birds, 
I can not advise its use. Cheap mosquito netting might be 
spread over a small patch; or around currant bushes. I 
know of one strawberry lover who screens in quite a fair- 
sized ^bed_ of strawberries to keep robins, etc., from eating 
the ripening fruit; he uses wire poultry-netting, supported, 
top and sides, six feet high, and leaves the netting there 
permanently. Crows and blackbirds 
frequently pull up planted corn, and 
pigeons are fond of peas, etc. Scare- 
crows are of little use. The best pre- 
ventive is to tar the seed, as follows: 
Put the seed into a pail and pour on 
enough warm water to cover it. Add 
a teaspoonful of coal tar to a peck, 

and stir well. _ Throw the seed out on scarecrows are of 

a sieve or m a basket to dram, little use 

and then stir in a few handfuls of 

land plaster (gypsum), or air-slaked lime. Do not pour the 
tar on the dry seed. (In this place let me say that nearly 
all birds are beneficial to the garden in some way — crows eat 
field mice, and birds in general eat many insects that do 
harm. Toads, also, are friends of the gardener, because of 
the many insects they devour. Never kill or drive away a 
toad. Lady-bugs or lady-birds are friends, too; they eat the 
tiny lice that suck a plant's juices. Bees are beneficial, for 
they help the pollination of blossoms.) 




CORRECT WAY TO USE AN ASPARAGUS KNIFE. BY PUSHING DOWN, 
SLANTWISE, THE CUT IS MADE WITH LEAST 
DANGER TO OTHER STALKS 



Chapter VI 



ASPARAGUS. RHUBARB. HORSERADISH 

Spring is almost at hand, hut do not he too hasty to 
begin outdoor operations. Wait until the soil is sufficiently 
dry and warm. Nothing is gained hy heing in too great a 
rush. — Farmer Vincent. 

SPARAGUS is a hardy perennial, 
which, when well started and cared 
for, should produce annual crops 
for twenty or more years. I have 
learned that the plants prefer a deep, 
well-enriched, loamy, moist but not 
wet, soil. Heavy clays are to be 
avoided ; the ideal soil is a light, 
sandy loam. A sheltered spot with a sunny exposure 
helps to bring an early crop. Spade or plow the 
ground deeply. Many writers insist that trenching, 
two feet deep, is necessary, but very good results are 
obtained with a working of only about half that 
depth. Subsoiling after plowing is the ideal method 
for large fields. 

For a small bed, the easiest way to get a quick 
start is to buy some one-year-old roots of a seedsman, 
and plant them in their permanent bed at once. One 
hundred roots, when well established, should furnish 
enough asparagus for the needs of an average family. 
Roots should be set, in the North, in very early 
spring ; or they may be set in the fall, if well mulched. 
Farther south, of course, they can be set out in the 
fall or early winter. Make furrows six inches deep 
and three feet (four feet is better for horse cultiva- 




66 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



tion) apart, and set the plants — crown up and roots 
down and well spread out — about two feet apart, in 
the bottom of the furrows. Cover three inches deep, 
and when the shoots are up a few inches, work the 
rest of the dirt into the furrows and level the ground. 
(If all the covering is put on at once, the first shoots 
may be too feeble to push through six inches of soil.) 
When planting, expose the roots to sun and wind as 
little as possible. 

Let the plants grow at will the first season ; sim- 
ply keep the ground well cultivated and free from 
weeds. Applications of salt are not really necessary, 
although salt is helpful to keep down weeds. After 
frost has killed the tops, mow them off close to the 
ground and burn them ; then apply a good mulch of 
stable manure (bone meal and kainit may be added). 
The second season, the same, except that two or 
three early cuttings may be made before the stalks 
are allowed to grow ; but "go easy" on cutting, that 
year, or you'll weaken the roots. The third (and 
subsequent) seasons, work the ground lightly and 
early, keep out weeds and asparagus seedlings, cut 
every shoot clean and about three inches deep until 
July 4th, then let the plants grow ; cut off and burn 
them after frost, stir the ground lightly and apply 
manure, etc. (In the early spring the coarser por- 
tion of the mulch may be forked off, and the remain- 
der lightly forked or cultivated in.) 

Blanched asparagus : Some people and markets 
demand "blanched" (whitened) shoots ; these are no 
better to eat, but have an attractive, distinctive ap- 
pearance. Blanching is accomplished by ridging or 
"hilling up" (plowing or throwing the soil toward) 
the rows in the early spring before the shoots appear ; 
the shoots have to push through several inches of 



ASPARAGUS. RHUBARB. HORSERADISH 67 



extra soil and thus more of the underground or 
white part can be obtained when gathering. (Note: 
R. B. Handy says that if the lay of the land permits, 
it's an advantage to have ridged rows of asparagus 
run north and south, on account of better distribu- 
tion of sunshine on both sides of the ridges when 
thus arranged.) Cutting is usually done with a spe- 
cial-shaped asparagus knife (see 

illustration) which facilitates very i 

deep cutting. The blanched stalks an asparagus 
are not usually allowed to get " knife" is more 

, , 1 r 1 LIKE A CHISEL 

much above the surface, and cut- 
ting is done regularly every day, care being taken 
not to injure stalks not yet up, or the crowns. 
The aisles between four-foot rows may be cultivated 
regularly with a horse without hurting the hilled-up 
crop ; and the ridges may be kept clean by light hoe- 
ing or raking, after cutting. Or a double harrow, 
composed of two sections hinged in the middle, and 
of sufficient width, may be used in two-horse form 
to work astride the ridges. After the cutting season 
is over the ridges should be plowed down and flat 
cultivation given until the growth of tops prevents. 
(This ridging or blanching method is quite common 
among market gardeners, but the level-culture 
method given in the foregoing paragraphs is often 
preferable for the small home-garden — and either 
method is better than the 
old way of growing aspar- 
agus in ''beds.") 

Marketing asparagus : 
An asparagus ''buncher" 
(see picture) is a great 
, , help to me in getting 

AN ASPARAGUS BUNCHER IS , ^ , , ° 

HELPFUL bunches ready for sale.. 




68 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



When cut off uniformly at the butts, washed, and 
tied with neat, narrow tape, or cord, they are ready 
for the customer or for packing into crates for 
shipment. Sizes of crates and bunches vary in dif- 
ferent localities ; usually the bunches are about four 
inches in diameter and seven to nine inches long. 
Asparagus is a profitable crop when properly han- 
dled. No other crop responds more generously to 
liberal and intelligent treatment. One of the most 
successful Illinois growers makes three grades, and 
the bunches of each grade are tied with different 
colored ribbon or tape. The stalks in each grade 
are uniform in size and quality. His entire crop 
is shipped to Chicago and handled by one firm. 
When cutting ''grass," he is careful not to leave the 
stalks long in the sun after being cut. The yield to 
the acre varies greatly — from about 500 to 2,000 
bunches, according to soil and season. The later 
crop can often be sold to canneries. 

Growing asparagus from seed : This is easily 
done, and the gardener who wants many plants can 
save money by growing his own. Two ounces of 
seed should sow about 100 feet of drill ; two pounds 
should grow enough roots to plant an acre. This 
seed germinates very slowly, and it is a help to soak 
the seed in warm water twenty-four hours before 
sowing. For wheel-hoe culture, make the rows about 
one foot apart ; for horse cultivation, two and one- 
half feet apart. In the North, sow in early April ; 
farther south, earlier, according to latitude. Cover 
the seed about an inch deep. When the plants are an 
inch or so high, thin them to about three inches 
apart. Give good culture all summer, and the next 
spring you should have some nice one-year-old roots 
to transplant to their permanent place. ('Tis said 



ASPARAGUS. RHUBARB. HORSERADISH tg 



that one-year-old plants are more desirable for trans- 
planting than two-year-olds ; and that the male 
plants — those that bear no seeds — produce larger 
asparagus than the seed-bearing female plants ; hence 
some few specialists go so far as to discard all seed- 
producing plants. If planted 2x3 feet apart, 7,260 
roots are required for one acre ; 2x4 feet, 5,445 
roots.) 

Another method : Mark out furrows, say four 
feet apart and six inches deep, on well-prepared, well- 
manured land. Sow the seed in the furrows and 
cover lightly. As the plants grow, gradually pull the 
soil to them until level, in the meantime thinning 
them out to about two feet apart. Perhaps the thin- 
nings can be sold to a neighbor. Give careful culti- 
vation, and your asparagus should be ready for busi- 
ness in two years. This method obviates the neces- 
sity of transplanting. 

Asparagus is sometimes forced in hotbed, cold- 
frame or cellar. Dig mature roots in the fall and 
store them until wanted. The roots, after forcing, 
are w^orthless. 

Varieties of asparagus : Any variety is about 
as good as another ; size and quality depend more 
upon culture and manure than upon the variety. 
Conover's Colossal, Palmetto, Barr's Mammoth and 
Columbian White are well-known kinds that I have 
tested. 

Insects and diseases : The principal asparagus 
pests are beetles and rust. There are two kinds of 
asparagus beetles, both of which injure the plants by 
eating the green parts and making holes in the stalks, 
and by laying their eggs upon the plants, from which 
eggs grubs or larvae hatch and feed upon the green 
parts of the plant. In habits^ effects and remedies 



70 



HIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



the two species are similar, but the beetles are differ- 
ent. Both species deposit rows of small dark eggs, 
placed endwise on the plants. The - remedies for 
both are the same, and consist in regularly cutting 
low the entire patch of asparagus, thus destroying 
the beetles' food supply until July; or dusting with 
flour and buhach; or permitting a portion of the 
patch to remain uncut and spraying it with some 
arsenical poison, especially arsenate of lead, which 
will stick to the plants that are not to be used for 
food. Stalks covered with eggs may be cut down and 
burned at any time. Chickens and ducks, if allowed 
the run of the asparagus patch, will destroy hun- 
dreds of the pests. The ridged system is a help when 
beetles are plentiful, for blanched stalks are cut just 
as they peep through the ground, and so the beetle 
does not find much available material for eating 
or egg laying. 

Asparagus rust is a fungous disease which most 
commonl}^ occurs where the plants are too damp 
and the air circulation is poor. It is to be prevented 
by cutting all the plants low and frequently, and 
spraying with Bordeaux mixture during the season 
after the cutting stops. Cut and burn the rusty plants 
in the fall as soon as they ripen or commence to die. 
The disease is worse some seasons than others. 

Rhubarb. — This, like asparagus, is a hardy per- 
ennial, and does best in a deep loamy soil made very 
rich with stable manure and fertilizers. In the small 
garden the rows may be about three feet apart; for 
horse cultivation, four feet apart. Space the plants 
about three feet apart in the rows, and set them deep 
enough to cover the top ''eyes" about two inches. 
Except for large plantations I believe that it is best 
to buy the plants of a seedsman ; set in very early 



ASPARAGUS. RHUBARB. HORSERADISH Jl 



Spring; or in the fall, well mulched. An acre set 
3x4 feet, requires 3,630 roots. No stalks should be 
pulled the first summer ; a light crop the second 
season ; a full crop the third. 

Cultivation begins in the early spring and con- 
tinues until fall, when a heavy coat of manure should 
be applied. Seed-stalks should be cut off whenever 
seen, so as to throw all the force of the plants into 
themselves. A plantation is good for about twenty 
years, but after a few years the roots develop into 
big "clumps" that need to be severely trimmed with 
a spade. Don't be afraid ; cut straight down, all 
around; many of the trimmings can be used for new 
plantations or sold to neighbors. Each strong "eye," 
with roots attached, will, if removed and set in good 
soil, make a new plant ; in fact, this is the common 
method of propagation (Plants may be grown from 
seed, planted the same as asparagus, but this requires 
the loss of a year's time.) 

Marketing rhubarb : Methods, markets and ship- 
ping-packages vary in different localities. Some Illi- 
nois growers begin pulling rhubarb as soon as the 
stalks are six or eight inches long, and ship in third- 
bushel climax baskets ; they claim to get more out 
of it in this way. It is a question whether in the 
long run this is better 
than to let the stalks 
get full length before 
beginning to pull. 
Later on, the large, 
fifty-pound crate is 
often used. What- 
ever plan is adopted, 
it is well to bear in mind that it does not pay to 
fill the packages with small stringy stalks, and top 




A LONG, LOW, WELL-BANKED SHED 
FOR FORCING RHUBARB IN WINTER 



72 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



them out with nice large ones. Better make two 
grades, and pack honestly. See that the stalks are 
large enough and that they are properly cleaned 
and trimmed. In some markets the leaves may be 
left on ; in others they must be cut off. Some mar- 
kets require bunching and tying; others do not. The 
best-known varieties are : Linnaeus and Victoria — 
the former being the earlier kind. There are no in- 
sects or fungous diseases that are troublesome. 

Forcing rhubarb : This is often done in the gar- 
den in a small way, by placing a barrel or tall box 
(without top or bottom) over a strong clump of 
"pieplant," and then banking up around it with 
manure. Do this just before growth starts, and the 
stalks will be ready to use much earlier than usual. 
Matters may be hastened still more, I will add, by 
placing a piece of glass over the top for a while or 
during bad weather or cold nights. Or clumps of 
rhubarb may be forced in an ordinary coldframe. 

Rhubarb may be forced, commercially, in special 
houses. Isaac Ridgeway of New Jersey does it as 

follows : He has a 
long, low, well-banked 
shed, plastered on the 
inside and heated by 
stoves (see illustra- 
tions). Into this he 
hauls and plants, 
about December ist, 

frozen clumps of rhu- 

puLLiNG OF RHUBARB BEGINS IN barb. Fircs arc not 
MARCH IN THIS FORCING SHED startcd, howcvcr. Until 
about the middle of 
February. Pulling begins early in March, and is 
done twice a week. He receives about five cents for 




ASPARAGUS. RHUBARB. HORSERADISH 73 

three stalks, and has sold as much as $1,500 worth 
from the building in one season. Stalks seem to 
grow all right in a dark place, and he says they sell 
for more than those grown under glass. (In a very 
small way, this forcing could be done in any ordi- 
nary cellar. It is important to let the clumps freeze 
before storing them inside.) 

Horseradish. — The best soil is a rich, deep, 
loose, moist loam. This plant is a hardy perennial, says 
Prof. Bailey, in Garden-Making, but for market it is 
chiefly grown as an annual crop. 'Tt is propagated 
by 'sets,' which are small roots (about the size of 
one's finger) which are trimmed from the large roots 
when the crop is stored in the fall. These sets should 
be cut in pieces four to six inches long, the top end 
square so as to mark the right end up — for if the 
sets are planted wrong end up, crooked roots will 
result. The sets are covered two or three inches deep 
in a vertical position. The roots are dug in late fall, 
and care is taken to get all the pieces of roots out 
of the land, for the plant is apt to become a bad 
weed. If old crowns are planted, crooked and 
branchy roots are obtained." 

Sets made in the fall I tie in bundles and keep 
over winter packed in sand in a cool cellar. Rows 
should be about two and a half feet apart to permit 
of horse cultivation, or about half that distance for 
wheel-hoe work. Space sets about ten inches apart 
in the row. 



2 

i 

5 

o 
o 
5 

Q 

Q 

a 
2 

CL, 



Chapter VTI 



THE ONION 

A certain amount of zcork in the gai den is good for 
man — and also good for onions. — Harriet. 

NIONS like level, rich, black, 
moist land in perfect condition 
and with sufficient humus ; how- 
ever, any good soil will do ; do 
not plant on rough, poor soil, 
nor on recently-turned sod. The 
crop is obtained in two ways — 
from seed and from "sets"; the 
result being either early ''bunch" 
onions, or "picklers," or large 
onions, or sets for future planting, or seed to sell — 
according to how the crop is managed. 

Nitrate of soda is particularly valuable in grow- 
ing onions, says the writer of Farmers' Bulletin 
No. 39. One hundred pounds of nitrate per acre 
worked in before planting, and two or three dress- 
ings of about fifty pounds each during the season, 
will facilitate rapid growth and increase the yield 
if there is enough potash and phosphoric acid already 
in the soil. When onions are raised from seed sown 
where the crop is to mature, the drilling should be 
done as early as possible in the spring. Drills are 
made about half an inch deep and one foot apart 
for wheel-hoe cultivation (about two feet and a half 
for horse work). When plants are up, thin to two- 
inches apart. Every other plant may then soon be 
pulled, bunched and sold in a green state ; while the 




76 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



remaining plants may be left until maturity (if that 
is considered more profitable). 

A common system of culture is to plant sets in 
the early spring instead of seed, and raise this vege- 
table to bunch for the early market. The ground 
can then be cleared and planted with a second crop 
of something else. If preferred, mature bulbs may 
be grown from the sets, and this method will insure 
success in almost any soil. Spring-planted sets 
should be covered about two inches deep, and spaced 
two to four inches apart in the row, the latter dis- 
tance being best if you want large onions. 

Another plan (called the "new onion culture") 
followed to a considerable extent in recent years, is 
to sow seeds of the large Spanish or Italian varieties, 
such as Prizetaker, etc., in the hotbed and then trans- 
plant into the field at the earliest possible date. 



Farmers' Bulletin No. 39. Better get a copy. 

A favorite plan with many gardeners is to plant 
sets about three inches deep outdoors in late August 
or early fall, using the Egyptian or winter varieties. 
This method insures a crop of green onions for 
bunching at the earliest possible date. (Onions are 
very hardy in the ground outdoors, but in the North 



HAND-WEEDING IS A LABORIOUS BUT 
NECESSARY DETAIL 




t 



(These very large 
varieties need this 
early hotbed start to 
insure maturity in the 
short season of the 
North. Farther south 
they may be started 
in coldframes or 
sown in the fall out- 
doors.) This method 
is fully described in 



THE ONION 



77 



it helps the fall-sown sets to mulch them when the 
ground freezes.) 

The three most extensively grown of American 
onions produced from seed sown in the field are 
Yellow Danvers, Silver Skin and Red Weathersfield. 

Still another method, sometimes practised in 
raising bunch onions for spring, is to sow the seed 
in the open ground in late September. In the North 
the rows may be protected by scattering a little mulch 
when the ground freezes. 

A System.atic Business. — A while ago, Mr. B. F: 
Stetser, New Jersey, told in the Farm Journal how 
the onion business is conducted in his locality. His 
words are well worth repeating, so I'll give them 
here : 

In early April the onion seed is sown in rows 
one foot apart. It grows until the middle of Jul}^ 
when the entire crop is gathered. The stalks are 
then about a foot high and the onions are about as 
large around as a penny. Some have grown faster 
and larger than others. These are called ''picklers," 
and may be found in all grocery stores, bottled for 
table use. Picklers are worth $i.6o to $2.50 a bushel, 
and generally about 600 bushels are. gathered to an 
acre. After these primes or picklers have been 
sorted out, the culls or very small onions (sets) are 
placed in large trays and remain there until perfectly 
dry ; then they are kept till spring, at which time they 
are set out in fields. Men are employed to keep all 
weeds away from them and to keep the ground con- 
stantly loosened up all around. Level, shallow culti- 
vation is best. The sets that were planted first as 
seeds more than a year ago, have by July 4th de- 
veloped into good-sized onions ; and men go down 
the rows with diggers which throw the onions out. 



78 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



and then they are piled up and are ready for the 
"toppers." The toppers cut the roots and stalks off 
and place the onions in baskets and sacks, ready for 
the market. All of the onions are not dug, however ; 
the grower allows an acre or two to keep on growing 
till the stalks are four or five feet high. On the 
very top large seed-balls grow, and when ripe they 
are cut from the onion — which some growers allow 
to remain in the ground until the next year, thus get- 
ting a double crop of seed from each onion. Good 
ground will yield about 400 pounds of seed to an acre 
and 300 or more bushels of big onions for market. 

Marketing. — In regard to ''bunch" or early 
green onions, an Illinois grower writes : Don't begin 
on the onions till they are large enough so that not 
more than live or six are required to make a bunch. 



"bunching." have bunches Styles of shipping crates 



holding ten dozen bunches ; it has a division through 
the center. The onions, after they are bunched and 
tied, are cut in lengths about an inch shorter than 
the space between the ends of the crate and the 
division board. In packing, the bunches are placed 
le-ngthwise of the crate. By placing the butts of the 




See to it that the bunches 
are uniform in size, and 
that the onions are clean 
and bright (see picture). 
It is very hard to fore- 
cast the onion market. 
Some seasons the early 
market is the best ; at 
other times the best 
prices are obtained later. 



uniform in size and 
onions clean 



vary in different localities. 
Here we use a flat crate 



THE ONION 



79 




DIGGING ONIONS WITH 
A HAND HARVESTER 



first layer snugly against the end of the crate, and 
those of the next against the division board, an 
inch space is left between each 
layer of onions. This space 
affords ventilation and prevents 
heating. 

Matured bulbs or large 
onions are left in the field until 
most of the necks (don't v^ait 
for all) v^ither, turn yellow, and 
the tops fall over ; then they are 
pulled by hand or dug out (see 
picture) with a U-shaped "onion- 
harvester" attachment which is 
made for wheel hoes, thrown into 
small windrows (three or four 
rows in one), and allowed to dry 
and cure for several days (if the weather is wet, 
the curing may have to be done in shed or barn). 
Then, with shears or knife, the tops are cut off 
about half an inch above each bulb (see illus- 
tration) ; cutting too close rots the onion, too 
long looks untidy. They may now be gathered up, 

graded into dif- 
ferent sizes, 
packed in venti- 
lated baskets, 
barrels, crates, 
etc. (as your mar- 
ket demands), 
and sold ai once. 
Or they may be 
stored (accord- 

' TOPPING." THE TOPS ARE CUT OFF ABOUT dirCCtionS 
HALF AN INCH ABOVE EACH ONION OYl pagC 8o). 




8o 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



BULBLETS 

"Scullions" or "scallions" are onions which grow a thick 
neck and fail to bottom out. Inferior seed or too wet a soil 
may cause the trouble. 

If the onion tops are still green in early September, roll 
a barrel along the rows and break them down. This helps to 
check growth and hastens the withering process. 

One-half ounce of onion seed is required for about loo 
feet of drill. About four pounds per acre. Sets, one quart 
to perhaps forty feet of row^; about eight bushels or more to 
the acre. 

There are three kinds of onion sets: i, onions grown 
from any common variety of seed, and not allowed to 
mature — thus producing little w^hite, red or yellow "sets,'' 
according to the kind of seed sown; 2, sets that are produced 
in a cluster above ground on the stalk end of a peculiar 
variety called "Egyptian," "top" or "tree" onion; and, 3, 
"multiplier" or "potato onion" sets which are produced in a 
cluster underground in the odd way common to this distinct 
variety. Each kind of set, if planted, of course keeps and 
reproduces its own characteristics. 

Winter storage of onions requires experience, and even 
then is usually attended with more or less loss; but the prac- 
tise often pays. Onions may be wintered, says Farmers' 
Bulletin No. 39, by two different processes, namely, by 
freezing the bulbs and keeping them in this state all winter, 
or by storing them in shallow bins in a dry apartment (not 
in a cellar) where the temperature can be maintained just 
above the freezing point. The freezing process is satisfactory 
only in the extreme North, where the weather is cold during 
the entire winter. It consists in simply storing the bulbs in 
the barn or outbuilding, allowing them to freeze, then cover- 
ing with hay, straw, or bags, and letting cover remain on the 
bulbs until they gradually thaw out with the rising tempera- 
ture of the spring. A layer of hay must be thrown on the 
floor or bottom of the bins before putting in the onions. 
The temperature of the bins should not run above 32° or 
below 15° until spring. Too sei'ere freezing or successive 
free::ing and thaiving zvill injure the bulbs. Onions not thor- 
oughly dry when stored will sprout and spoil. 

Insects and diseases: The principal enemies of the onion 
are the onion maggot, a tiny white worm which burrows in 
the bulb; and onion smut or rot, a blackish fungous disease. 
For the first the most effective remedy is a change of location 
of the onion field each year. This may be followed by any 
of the treatments recommended by John B. Smith in his 



THE ONION 



8i 



Economic Entomology: "Keep a close watch for the first 
signs of maggots, and lift out and destroy infested plants 
that have wilted down. Turn away the earth from the rows 
with a hand plow so as to expose the root system in part, 
then broadcast about 600 pounds of kainit and 100 pounds 
nitrate of soda per acre; turn back the earth to the plants. 
The application is best made just before or during, or imme- 
diately after, a rain * * * Bisulphide of carbon injected 
below the root system has been used with success." (On 
small areas only, I presume. An injector or large syringe 
or a machine-oil can may be used for the purpose. — J. B. ) 
"It should be used when the soil is moist but not water- 
soaked * * * Tobacco dust, soot, wood ashes, etc., applied 
early around the base of the plants * * * Carbolic acid 
emulsion poured about the base of infested plants." (See 
Chapter V for formula.) Fall-plowing is a help, too — par- 
ticularly if you will scatter a little grain on the field occa- 
sionally afterwards and then turn on a flock of chickens. 
Smut is held in check to some extent by rotation of crops, 
by transplanting, and by gathering and burning infected 
specimens and refuse. Admixture of equal parts of sulphur 
and lime sown in the drills with the seed has given good 
results as a remedy for the disease. Or the seed might be 
treated with formalin as advised for cabbage in Chapter XI. 
Cutworms are sometimes troublesome in the onion field (see 
Chapter XI for remedies). Thrips (tiny, yellow insects that 
suck the juices from the leaves) may be killed by spraying 
with whale-oil soap solution or kerosene emulsion. Downy 
mildew sometimes affects onion tops on low ground. Reme- 
dies: Destroy diseased onions and spray plants early in the 
season with the Bordeaux mixture — which spray would also 
be a help to keep smut in check. 




AN INSECT DESTROYER 



Chapter VIII 



I 



PEAS AXD POTATOES 

"A garden is the personal part of an estate — that area 
ivhich is most intimately associated zcith the private life of 
the home.'' 

i'lp'^^EAS, like onions, are hardy, and 
r^M I early varieties should be sown in the 
^^^F open ground just as soon as soil 
I conditions will permit — in Alarch or 

I Jl early April in the North, and in De- 
f 'iJ. cember, January or February far- 

.'^ Y ther south (according to latitude). 

A too rich soil is not good for 
this crop, I have discovered, for an excess of nitro- 
gen is likely to cause the plants to "run all to vines." 
A light clay loam is desirable if extra early peas are 
wanted. Peas are nitrogenous — that is, they have the 
power of gathering nitrogen from the air. 

Rows in the small garden may be about three 
feet apart for single rows of tall-growing varieties, 
that are to be supplied with some support for the 
vines to climb upon. (Rows of dwarf varieties 
might be narrower.) A method often practised, 
however, is to plant double rows (about eight inches 
apart) with aisles about three feet wide (six inches 
wider would be better for horse cultivation) between 
each two double-rows. The vine support for this 
double row^ is placed in the center of the eight-inch 
space, so that vines in both rows may climb on the 
one support (and thus form a single trellis of vines 
from a double row of plants). 



84 



HIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



Early plantings of peas are usually covered about 
three inches deep ; later sowings, when the ground is 
drier, are often covered four or five inches deep in 
mellow, light soil. Personally, I favor deep planting 
for all peas in the well-drained garden- — five or six 
inches if soil conditions will permit. If this is prac- 
tised, it is safer to cover the seed only about three 
inches at first, putting the remainder of the covering 
into the furrow when the pea sprouts are just com- 
ing through the first covering. This double-covering 
precaution insures the ability of the sprouts to push 
through to the surface, and is especially necessary 
in heavy soils. One quart will sow about lOO feet of 



HAND-SOWING OF PEAS IN FURROWS. COUrSC, plaut wltll 2L 



rot, cutworms, etc., may get part of it. 

Keep down weeds. When the plants are two 
or three inches above ground, furnish some support 
for them to climb on- — ''brush," sticks, wire-netting, 
wires, cord, or whatever is handy. Continue to 
cultivate until the crop is gathered, then pull out and 
remove the vines and trellis, loosen up the ground, 




single drill ; about 
one and a half 
bushels to an acre. 
Thinning is seldom 
necessary. Open the 
furrows with a hoe 
or a plow or a culti- 
vator rigged as a fur- 
rower, and drop the 
seed by hand in a 
continuous row. (Ex- 
tensive growers, of 



('tis better TO SOW LARGE 
AREAS WITH A SEED DRILl) 



seed drill.) Use 
plenty of seed, for 



PEAS AND POTATOES 



8s 



and plant to some other crop. (Note: Peas require 
a cool season and do not do well in the hot weather 
of mid-summer ; so they are an early-season crop 
that permits of a following crop of something else — 
late cabbage, celery, etc. Successional sowings of 
peas should be made every ten days until June, thus 
securing a regular succession of bearing vines. In 
the North, dwarf varieties of peas are sometimes 
sown in early August for a fall crop.) 

Field culture : Let me say that the gardener 
who grows peas on a large scale for market or can- 
ning factory, as a rule plants and handles his crop 
somewhat differently from the smaller grower. For 
one thing, he generally sows the seed with a hand 
or horse planter, thus combining in one operation 
the opening, seeding and covering of the furrows. 
And because he uses a machine which does the cover- 
ing all in one dose, he is apt to plant the seed more 
shallow — so as to make sure that the pea shoots will, 
without double-covering, be able to push through the 
soil. He usually plants early peas about two inches 
deep ; and, later, when the soil is drier, he plants 
about three inches deep. 
For another thing, he 
generally spaces the 
single rows farther 
apart (about five feet 
for the very tall-grow- 

mg varieties, less for inexpensive cord support for 
the dwarf kinds), so peas, wire poultry-netting 
that the vines may 

have room to sprawl on the ground and thus save the 
great bother and expense of furnishing extensive areas 
with something for the vines to climb on. Two or 
three cultivations with horse implements are given, 




86 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



and then the vines are allowed to grow as they 
please. After the vines have attained size and have 
fallen over, they need turning every two or three 
days or they may rot on the under side; simply 
''flop" them gently over from one side to the other, 
using a long, round stick for the purpose. 

Picking and marketing : Peas are at their best 
when the pods have filled out plump but have not be- 
come hard. For large areas, pickers will need to be 
hired; they should be instructed not to tear the 
vines, to pick only marketable pods, and not to leave 
on them long pieces of vine. Each variety should 
be kept by itself, and no over-ripe yellow-looking 
pods should be packed. Peas are sold in a variety 
of packages — in bags, ventilated barrels, baskets, 
crates, etc. For long-distance shipment the small 
package is preferable, for peas in bulk are likely to 
heat and spoil in a short time. A round, one-third- 
barrel veneer basket is a favorite Maryland and New 
Jersey package for peas. In some localities near can- 
ning factories, peas can be profitably grown under 
contract for the factories. 

Varieties : There are two types of seed — the 
smooth and the wrinkled. There are short and tall 
varieties of both types. My experience is that wrin- 
kled kinds are superior in quality, but if planted very 
early are more likely to rot in the ground than the 
smooth varieties. Among the extra-early kinds, the 
following are well-known : First of All, Nott's Ex- 
celsior, American Wonder, Daniel O'Rourke, Little 
Gem. Mid-season : Shropshire Hero, Abundance, 
Advancer, Heroine. Late : Telephone, Stratagem, 
Champion of England, Yorkshire Hero, Marrowfat. 

Insects and diseases : Often the tips of the vines 
are covered with little green aphis (lice). Any of 



PEAS AND POTATOES 



87 



the sprays for lice mentioned in Chapter V will kill 
them. The following two methods, however, have 
been used with better success: i. On a very hot day 
the lice may be brushed from the vines into the paths 
and covered with the cultivator, says S. A. Johnson. 
This method does not work well where the ground is 
lumpy, for the lice crawl out and back upon the 
plants, unless the dirt is sufficiently firm to smother 
them. 2. They may be brushed into pans which are 
dragged between the rows. To do this, have galva- 
nized iron pans made about six feet long, eighteen 
inches wide and six inches deep. Put a thin layer of 
kerosene in the bottom. Drag the pan between the 
rows while two boys brush the vines toward the pan. 
There should be sufficient oil in the pan to insure the 
wetting of all the lice, and it should be cleaned and 
the oil renewed whenever necessary. (A. D. Taylor, 
Massachusetts, writes that he has had best success 
by dusting the vines when wet with dew with dry 
hardwood ashes.) 

Weevils are more or less troublesome to both 
peas and beans. 'Tis said that late plantings are not 
so likely to be infested by weevils. This insect eats 
out the heart of the seed, and is hatched from eggs 
that are laid on the green pod while it is growing 
on the vine. There is no means known to prevent 
the laying of the eggs or the entrance of the larvae 
into the seed. The only direct means of fighting the 
pest is to kill the larvae in the dry seed before plant- 
ing, preferably with bisulphide of carbon. Put seed 
in a close box, throw a cloth over the seed, pour the 
liquid over this cloth, and put on the lid. Leave un- 
disturbed for forty-eight hours. Be careful not to 
inhale the vapor or bring a lighted lamp near it, as 
it is poisonous and explosive. Use about one ounce 



88 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



to four bushels of seed. Another method is to put 
the seed in water ; infested seed will float on the sur- 
face and may be skimmed off and burned. 

Cutworms : See Chapter XI. 

Mildew and rust occasionally attack this crop, 
particularly if the weather is unusually damp. If 
your vines begin to wilt and turn yellow, fungous 
disease of the stem near the ground is probably to 
blame. Spraying with the Bordeaux mixture is a 
preventive of these troubles if done early enough. 

Potatoes. — The ground should be rich. Many 
growers secure excellent results by annually broad- 
casting about 1,000 pounds per acre of a complete 
fertilizer containing plenty of potash. Stable manure 
is good to loosen up clay soils, but where the potato 
scab is prevalent, the constant use of large quantities 
of stable manure is believed to increase this fungous 
trouble. Potatoes do best in a loose, well-drained 
loam, well provided with humus. A clover sod or a 
crop of cowpeas, etc., plowed under in the fall, makes 
an ideal field for me. Owing to scab and other po- 
tato peculiarities, the potato grower needs to prac- 
tise a systemiatic rotation of crops. 

Medium-sized seed is best. To start with, buy 
northern-grown seed ; then each year at digging 
time, select tubers for seed from the best hills. 
Avoid ''Jumboes" or ''littles." Treat the seed with 
formalin (see Chapter V) to prevent scab. Cellar- 
sprouted tubers are not so good for seed as those 
which are unsprouted. Tubers sprouted a little in 
sunlight just previous to planting are desirable when 
extra early crops are wanted. Just how to cut the 
seed is a disputed point, but those who cut so as to 
leave at least two strong eyes on each seed piece, 
will make no mistake. Some people discard the 



PEAS AND POTATOES 



89 




"seed-end" of each tuber. It requires ten or more 
bushels of potatoes to seed one acre. 

An important point is to have the soil in perfect 
condition before planting. Use the 
harrow thoroughly. Rows, for horse 
cultivation, should be about three 
feet apart. Drop seed pieces about 
fifteen inches apart ; cover about 
four inches deep; shallower plant- 
ing would bring the crop too near 
the surface and cause portions of 
the tubers to sunburn and turn 
green. The two illustrations show | 
the results of wrong and right | 
planting depths. There are several 
good machine potato-planters now 

^ ^ ^ TOO-SHALLOW PLANT- 

on the market ; but on small areas ing, resulting in 
it is customary to open the furrows sunburned pota- 

. 1 . TOES TOO NEAR 

With a plow or horse cultivator or the surface 

hand hoe and drop the seed by 

hand, and then cover the seed in a similar manner. 

Cultivation should begin soon after the seed is 
planted. Go diagonally over the field with a light 
spike-tooth harrow, to break up 
the soil crust and to kill any 
weeds which may start. Go over 
the field again within a week, the 
other way diagonally. These 
early harrowings greatly lessen 
the after work of keeping the 
field clean. When the potatoes 
are several inches high, a culti- 
planted right— vator should be used between 
FOUR inches deep, j-ows. If thc grouud is well- 

RESULT : NO SUN- . , ,^ , . . . 

BURNED TUBERS Grained and 11 the seed is planted 




90 



HIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



sufficiently deep, hilling-up is unnecessary. One hand 
hoeing during the season may be desirable. 

Insects and diseases : Every few weeks I spray 
the vines with a mixture of the full-strength Bor- 
deaux and Paris green. Spraying should begin wdien 
the plants are about four inches high and continue 
as long as growth lasts. Thus bugs, early and late 
blight, mildew, rot, etc., may usually be kept in check 
with one combined mixture. The potato-stalk weevil 
which sometimes bores in the stalks, can be kept 
down by prompt gathering and burning of vines 
when the crop is dug; badly infested vines should 
be pulled and burned at any time. 

Wireworms (not angleworms) are very slender, 
yellowish, hard-bodied worms that are often trouble- 
some in the soil ; usually, however, these pests dis- 
like ground which has been heavily enriched with 
chemical fertilizers ; 'tis said that fall-plowing, fol- 
lowed by a spring application of 150 pounds of ni- 
trate of soda, and 1,000 pounds of kainit to the acre, 
is particularly good to conquer wireworms. This 
should be sown broadcast and harrowed in before 



FURROWS WITH A PLOW ^^^^^^ ^J^^ praCtisC 

for several years, and turn the hens on the field when- 
ever possible — particularly after plowing or harrowing. 
Varieties : Each locality has its favorites ; study 



the crop is planted. 




HAND-PLANTING OF POTATOES ; 
OPENING AND CLOSING THE 
FURROWS WITH A PLOW 



(Thisis forthe worms, 
mainly, and is not a 
balanced fertilizer 
mixture. Some bone 
meal or phosphate 
might be added to 
help balance the food 
needs of the plant). 



PEAS AND POTATOES 



91 



your market's requirements. Among the best early 
varieties I might mention : Early Rose, Early Michi- 
gan, Early Ohio, Early Norther, Early Bovee, Early 
White Ohio, etc. Among the best late or main-crop 
varieties, are : Rural New-Yorker, Carman No. 3, 
Sir Walter Raleigh, Great Divide, Vermont Gold 
Coin, Nebraska, Alammoth Pearl, Rose Seedling, 
Burbank, Uncle Sam, State of IMaine, etc. 

In the North early potatoes, like peas, are 
planted in March or April as soon as the ground 
becomes dry enough (tu- 
bers will rot if planted in 
too wet a soil). Fall plow- 
ing is, of course, a help 
to early planting; so is 
tile draining. The plant is 
sensitive to frost, but 
usually the sprouts take so 
long a time to get above 
ground that frost danger 
is mostly over before they 
appear ; at a critical time, 
however, 'tis possible, I find, to plow or hoe a little 
soil on to the tender sprouts and thus outwit Jack 
Frost. Main or late crop potatoes are planted in the 
North any time between about May loth and June 
1st. In Georgia early potatoes are planted about 
February ist, I am told. 

''Second-crop potatoes": In some of the south- 
ern states a double cropping system is practised, the 
second crop being grown the same season from seed 
produced by the first crop. For full particulars 
about this method, write to the United States De- 
partment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, and ask 
for free Farmers' Bulletin No. 35. 




A MACHINE POTATO-PLANTER 
OPENS THE FURROWS, PLANTS 
THE SEED, COVERS IT AND 
MARKS THE NEXT ROW 



92 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



Digging, storing and marketing : The maturity 
and death of the vines show that it is time to dig 
the main or late crop, which should be done at once 
if the tubers seem to be rotting; but if they are keep- 
ing all right it may be better to delay digging until 
later in the fall when the weather is cooler. Early- 
market tubers are dug whenever big enough, re- 
gardless of the vines. In the fall choose a dry time 
to do the digging, if possible. They should be dug 
by hand if the area is not large — using a four-tined 
potato hook made for the purpose. Or, if the area 
is large, there are excellent horse-power machine 
diggers and pickers that save much time and labor. 

In harvesting, as well as in storage, potatoes 
should be exposed to light as little as possible. 
After digging I advise that they should lie on the 
ground only long enough to dry thoroughly, and 
then be gathered up into slatted bushel-crates, piled 
on the wagon, hauled to the packing or storage place 
and sorted into grades (a machine potato-sorter is 
made that facilitates this work). In some cases the 
potatoes are sorted in the field and packed at once 
in barrels, or in burlap sacks holding no to 120 
pounds. Early potatoes are sold in Maryland and 
some other states in round one-third-barrel veneer 
baskets. Late potatoes are often shipped in barrels 
with the tops tied with burlap, or in burlap sacks, or 
loose in carload lots. 

In storing potatoes a dark, dry place and a low 
temperature is required. The potato tuber is unin- 
jured by a temperature of 33° F. Warmth, light 
and moisture favor sprouting, which injures potatoes 
both for planting and eating. Storage in cellars 
is very common ; outdoor pits are sometimes used 
(consult Chapter IX in regard to pits). No matter 



PEAS AND POTATOES 



93 



how stored, the winter loss from shrinkage, rot, 
etc., must always be considered. It is often wiser 
to sell in the fall if a fair price is offered. If stored 
in a dugout or cellar, put the potatoes in bins made of 
slats (to insure ventilation) and not more than five 
feet deep. 

Indoor cellars : Generally speaking I would ear- 
nestly say that a house cellar is not a good place to 
store large quantities of vegetables — not good for 
the folks above, and not good for the vegetables be- 
cause usually too warm. However, it is often ad- 
visable to have small lots of potatoes, roots, etc., in 
the cellar. Put the potatoes in bins. Roots should be 
packed in or covered with sand to keep them from 
drying out and shriveling. Ventilate the cellar, and 
promptly remove any vegetable which has rotted. 
Keep out light, frost and warmth. 




AFTER RADISHES ARE PULLED, SOME MARKET GARDENERS SOAK THEM 
IN WATER FOR THREE HOURS TO MAKE THEM EXTRA CRISP 



Chapter IX 



ROOT CROPS 

Beet, Carrot, Parsnip, Radish, Salsify, 
Turnip, etc. 

THE long-rooted varieties require a deep, 
loose soil for their best development (the 
round or stump-rooted kinds will, of 
course, do well in shallower soil). Sub- 
soiling or tile draining are great aids in 
growing long-rooted crops. Plenty of 
fertilizer and humus is necessary. These 
crops are all hardy and therefore permit 
of early sowing. Give thorough cultiva- 
tion and hand weeding. Transplanting is 
seldom practised with these vegetables. 
Beet. — There are two kinds — the early- 
season, quick-growing, round, short-rooted varieties, 
and the long-rooted, long-season ones. The former 
are most often grown of late years, for market, and 
may be sown in early spring as an early crop to be 
followed by something else, or in July or early 
August as a succession crop after some earlier crop 
has matured. (The long-rooted kinds are generally 
sown in May or June in the North, and grow during 
the entire season.) 

Sow in drills about a foot apart for wheel-hoe 
cultivation; two and a half feet for horse work. 
Thin the plants gradually to about hve inches apart. 
Cover seed about an inch deep. The seed germi- 
nates slowly and a preliminary soaking hastens 




96 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



germination. One ounce of seed will sow about 
fifty feet of drill ; about five pounds to the acre. 

Beet "greens" are popular, and are merely young 
plants that are only partly grown. They are usually 
obtained in the form of "thinnings" from the rows, 
leaving the remaining plants to mature. Beet greens 
are sold in bunches, leaves and all. 

Early beets are marketed in various ways — gen- 
erally tied in bunches of six with part or all of the 
top attached. Main-crop beets are topped and packed 
in barrels, etc. 

Varieties : Among early kinds, these are my 
favorites : Early Egyptian, Eclipse, Crimson Globe. 
Long Blood is a standard late variety. 

Insects and diseases : These, as a rule, are sel- 
dom troublesome. Wireworms in the soil sometimes 



THE HAND-THINNING OF ROOT Spray appHcd carly. Rota- 



Carrot. — For early use, plant the Short Horn, 
Oxheart and similar short-rooted varieties early in 
the spring. Main-crop carrots for winter use (Dan- 
ver's Half -long. Long Orange, etc.,) may be sown in 
the North in early June, following early radishes, etc. 

The seed germinates slowly (soaking helps) and 
the young plants are easily ruined by weeds or neg- 
lect ; but when once established the crop is an easy 




hurt the roots (see Chap- 
ter Vni for remedies). 
Root rot is occasionally 
serious ; lime applied to 
the soil is a help. Beet 
rust and leaf-spot are fun- 
gous troubles on the 
leaves ; remedy, Bordeaux 



CROPS IS AN EARLY AND 
IMPORTANT DETAIL 



tion of crops is useful in 
all these troubles. 



ROOT CROPS 



97 



one. Sow the seed thickly, about half an inch deep; 
rows and thinning the same as for beets. One ounce 
of seed will sow about loo feet of drill ; about two and 
a half pounds required for an acre. Americans eat 
very few carrots and the market demand is therefore 
rather limited and uncertain. Fungi or insects are 
not usually troublesome. 

Parsnip. — This is an all-season crop and should 
be sown as early in the spring as the soil can be 
worked. Sown and thinned the same as carrots, 
except that one ounce of seed will sow about 200 
feet of drill ; five pounds about one acre. The seed 
germinates slowly. Varieties : For shallow soils 
plant Early Round French, but if your soil is deep 
enough plant Hollow Crown, Guernsey or Half- 
long. For table use, parsnips are sweeter and better 
if they are allowed to stay in the ground and freeze — 
digging them in late winter or when thaws occur ; 
for immediate use a portion of the crop might be 
dug and stored in the fall. There are practically no 
troublesome insects or diseases. Marketable roots 
should be long, straight and smooth, and not 
branched (shallow or lumpy soil causes branching, 
says Farmer Vincent). 

Radish. — For best results I choose a sandy loam, 
well drained and enriched. This crop, to be eatable 
or marketable, must be grown quickly — pushed along 
from start to finish so as to be crisp and juicy. 
Begin to sow the seed outdoors in the North in 
March or April (earlier farther south) as soon as 
the ground can be worked. For wheel-hoe cultiva- 
tion the rows should be about a foot apart. Sow the 
seed rather thinly, cover about one-half inch deep, 
and thin the plants to about three inches apart. The 
seed germinates very quickly and the crop is ready 



98 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



in five or six weeks, usually. Successional sowings 
may be made at ten-day intervals until, June, so as to 



expect a crop before freezing weather. 

Marketing : After radishes are pulled, some 
market gardeners soak them for three hours in 
barrels of water, to make them extra crisp (see 
full-page picture facing this chapter). Next they 
are placed on a wire-netting rinsing tray, roots all 
one way; third, they are rinsed with a stream of 
fresh water (see two illustrations in this chapter). 
Then they are tied in bunches, leaves left on, and are 
ready to sell or to pack for shipment. Different ship- 
ping packages are used in different localities. 

Varieties : Among the best-known early short- 
rooted kinds are Scarlet Globe, Round Red, White 
Turnip, French Breakfast, Half-long Deep Scarlet, 
etc. Early long-rooted : Early Scarlet Short Top. 
White Chinese is a good winter variety. 




have radishes in good con- 
dition all through the radish 
season. In July and August 
this crop does not do so 
well, and is seldom planted 
then. One ounce of seed 
should sow about lOO feet 
of drill ; ten pounds about 
one acre. Radishes are oc- 
casionally grown in hotbeds 
or coldframes for very early 
market. 



AFTER SOAKING, RADISHES 
ARE PLACED ON A WIRE-NET- 
TING RINSING TRAY, ROOTS 
ALL ONE WAY 



Winter radishes are not 
much in favor in this coun- 
try, but those who like 
them may sow the seed 
about September ist, and 



ROOT CROPS 



99 




Insects : Usually the only serious pest is a mag- 
got in the soil. This is similar to the onion maggot 
mentioned in Chapter VII, and the remedies would 
be the same as there given. Flea beetles sometimes 
bother (see Chapter XI). 

Salsify. — This is also called 'Vegetable oyster," 
and is often used by Harriet in making an imitation 
oyster-stew. It is 
grown the same 
as parsnip ; it is 
hardy and may 
be left in the 
ground over win- 
ter or stored at 
once. One ounce 
of seed will sow 
about 100 feet 
of drill. Mam- 
moth Sandwich 

Island is a good variety. There are no troublesome 
pests so far as I know. 

Turnip. — Usually sown as a fall crop in July 
or early August ; sometimes sown as an early mar- 
ket crop very early in the spring. Must be grown 
rapidly or the roots are woody and bitter. Sow in 
the spring in rows the same as radishes. The mag- 
got, wireworm and flea beetle are the principal pests 
(see elsewhere for remedies). Thin the plants to 
about five inches apart for early; wider if you want 
big roots. 

Instead of sowing in rows in July, it is quite a 
common practise to broadcast the seed on clean, 
mellow ground, and then harrow or rake it in. 
Here's a better way : Have the seedbed very fine, 
then roll it ; sow the seed soon after a rain, and 



AFTER A THOROUGH RINSING, RADISHES 
ARE THEN READY TO BE TIED IN BUNCHES 



100 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



cover by lightly rolling the ground. Of course no 
subsequent cultivation is given. The yield is often 
very good when seed is sown in this way, but row 
culture is usually more certain and satisfactory. 
One ounce of seed will sow about 200 feet of drill. 
Use about two pounds to the acre, either broadcast 
or in rows. For horse cultivation space the rows 
two feet and a half apart. Early turnips are some- 
times bunched like beets, or they may be topped 
and sold in barrels, baskets, etc. Consult your mar- 
ket's requirements. The late crop should be gath- 
ered before hard freezing begins, topped and sold or 
stored. 

Varieties : Purple-top Strap-leaf, Early Milan, 
Flat Dutch, Early Munich, Purple-top White Globe, 
etc. 

Some Other Root Crops. — Sugar beets are 
grown in some localities, under contract, for beet- 
sugar factories, and the varieties used are known to 
be especially rich in sugar contents ; they are grown 
the same as other beets, but are sold by the ton. 
Mangel-wurzel is a mammoth species of coarse 
beet which grows partially above ground and is well 
liked as a stock food. Rutabaga, or Swedish turnip, 
is usually grown as a food for stock. None of the 
three foregoing varieties are, strictly speaking, gar- 
den vegetables. 

Digging and Storing Root Crops. — Roots may 
be dug out or pulled out ; but if the crop is large 
or the roots long, I find that it is easier to plow 
them out. For storing or shipping in the fall, the 
roots should dry in the sun until the soil will shake 
from them, and the tops should be cut off, about 
an inch above the crown. Then haul to pit, cellar 
or packing house. Be careful not to bruise when 



ROOT CROPS 



lOI 



digging or handling; bruised or mutilated roots will 
not keep long. 

Storing : The construction of a Colorado-style 
storage house or dugout is simple, says E. R. Ben- 
nett. An excavation is made in the ground, of the 
required dimensions for the cellar and of a sufficient 
depth to give soil for covering the. top. A frame of 
posts, timbers and rafters is then made as for a 
building. This frame is covered with wire-netting 
or brush. Over this two or three feet of straw is 
placed and this is covered with soil to a depth of 
six to twelve inches. Ventilator shafts are put in at 
regular intervals to give air circulation and keep the 
tem.perature from rising too high. Some of these 
dugouts have an alley through the center with doors 
at either end so that the wagon may be driven 
through. Double doors with a dead air space be- 
tween are used as a protection against frost. If 
roots or potatoes are stored while the weather is 
yet warm, the ventilators and doors are left open 
nights to give a circulation of cold air, and closed 
during the heat of the day. In this way the bins 
are gradually cooled down, and by giving close at- 
tention to the temperature the whole mass is kept 
as cool as possible without danger from frost. Dur- 
ing the winter considerable care has to be exercised 
to prevent the temperature of the dugout from ris- 
ing fromi the heat developed by the stored roots or 
potatoes. This is regulated by opening and closing 
the ventilator shafts as the case demands. (In a 
wet climate it would be necessary to have some kind 
of water -proof roof on top of the soil, to keep out 
rain, etc. — J. B.) 

Outdoor ''pits" : These differ from dugouts in 
that they are not usually sunken in the ground. They 



102 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



are, as a rule, made on the surface as follows : Piles 
of topped and unbruised roots (or . potatoes) are 
made on a high, well-drained piece of ground. These 
piles may be almost any shape or size (but it is 
wise not to have the piles large enough to heat when 
covered — better make several separate pits when the 
quantity to be stored is large, or one long pit divided 



feet at the base, then a layer of straw about six 
inches deep when matted down, and, lastly, a dayer 
of soil about a foot in depth shoveled up from 
around the pit. In the center of each pit or com- 
partment, is an upright stick to which is tied a wisp 
of straw arranged as a ventilator. (In very severe 
climates it may be necessary to put a layer of man- 
ure on top of the soil layer, or another layer each of 
straw and soil.) Special remarks: Do not cover 
the pit all at once. First put on the straw, with a 
board or two to hold it in place ; this will protect 
against light frosts. As the weather gets colder, 
throw on an inch or two of soil — adding soil as the 
winter advances until the pit is fully protected. A 
house cellar is not a suitable place to store more than 
a few potatoes (in bins) and a few roots (in sand). 




AN OUTDOOR ROOT-PIT 



at four-foot intervals with a 
wall of earth so as to make 
separate compartments). The 
accompanying picture shows 
how to make a pit. On top of 
the ground comes a shallow 
layer of straw, then a cone of 
roots not wider than about six 



Chapter X 



LETTUCE. CELERY 

Good "luck" zvitJi these crops means rich, moist soil, good 
seed, and plenty of elbow grease. — Tim. 

ETTUCE is hardy, and there- 
fore the first sowing outdoors 
may be made just as early in 
the spring as the ground can 
be worked. Successional sow- 
ings may thereafter be made 
every two weeks, to insure a 
constant supply for the table 
or market. I like the rows about fifteen inches apart 
for wheel-hoe cultivation; about two and a half feet 
apart for horse work. Sow in drills and cover 
about half an inch deep. Thin the plants gradually, 
using the thinnings lor table use as far as possible, 
until the plants stand about ten inches apart (more 
or less, according to the variety grown and the size 
of head wanted). The best soil for early lettuce is 
a light, loose loam, made very rich. Applications of 
nitrate of soda or liquid manure are helpful to the 
growing crop (see Chapter IV). One-quarter ounce 
of seed will sow about lOO feet of drill. 

The foregoing is the easy small-garden method 
of growing lettuce without transplanting. North- 
ern market gardeners, however, usually prefer to 
raise early plants in hotbeds, transplant to cold- 
frames, and then transplant to the field. Or some- 
times they sow the seed outdoors in September, trans- 
plant in October to coldframes for wintering (spac- 
ing the plants about five inches apart), and then, 




104 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



in the early spring, transplant the wintered lettuce 
from coldframes to field; or sometimes outdoor 
August-sown plants are moved to frames and forced 
along for Thanksgiving or early winter market. Or, 
for the later crops of head lettuce, they may sow the 
seed in drills outdoors in early spring, and then, in- 
stead of thinning the lettuce, transplant it to a nicely- 
prepared field where it can be set the required dis- 
tance apart. Market gardeners have a custom, also, 
of transplanting a head of lettuce between each two 
early cabbages in a field row — the lettuce is soon 
off and then the cabbages can have all the space. 

Hotbed lettuce, in the North, is usually started 
in February and transplanted in about four weeks 
(see Chapter III for cultural directions). In the 
South it may be started several weeks or months 
earlier, according to latitude. One ounce of seed 
should furnish about i,ooo plants ; they are moved 
to the open ground in March or early April. The 
faster the growth, the more crisp, tender and sweet 
the lettuce will be. Some gardeners facilitate the 
''heading" process by drawing up the outer leaves 
around the plant and securing them in place with a 
string. (Note: Very early lettuce is often grown 
entirely in frames or greenhouses, without trans- 
planting outdoors.) 

Summer and fall lettuce : Most varieties of let- 
tuce do not do well in hot weather ; therefore if you 
want summer lettuce you should select the kind 
called Cos — a distinct type (also known as "celery 
lettuce," or Romaine). For fall lettuce any of the 
spring varieties may be planted. 

Varieties : Early Curled Simpson, Black Seeded 
Simpson, Grand Rapids, etc., are good extra-early 
kinds of the curled or leaf variety. Tennis Ball, 



LETTUCE. CELERY 




Boston Market, Iceberg, Hanson, etc., are good head 
or "cabbage" kinds, but do not mature quite so 
quickly. 

Marketing lettuce : My experience tells me that 
lettuce with a blanched heart sells best in most mar- 
kets, and is in more or less demand all the year 
around. Lettuce in the held is cut off close to the 
ground and taken to the packing house, where the 
untidy outer leaves are taken off. A favorite pack- 
age for lettuce in Maryland, etc., is the round, 
veneer basket with a cover 
(the cover is not shown in 
illustration). Ventilated bar- 
rels, crates, etc., are used in 
some localities. Lettuce for 
shipment should be quite dry 
when packed. Lettuce for a a basket of Maryland 
near-by fancy trade is some- ''^J^^^^^''^'''^'^'' 
times grown in two-inch pots, 

and marketed in that way — thus insuring freshness. 

Insects and diseases : Out-of-doors the lettuce 
crop is seldom troubled by bugs or fungi. Cutworms 
sometimes bother (see Chapter XI). Under glass 
"damping off" (sometimes called ''drop" or "wilt") 
is a common trouble (see Chapter II). Stem and 
leaf rot may usually be prevented, where prevalent, 
by covering the greenhouse or hotbed soil with two 
inches of sand which has been sterilized by being 
treated with boiling water. Half-strength Bordeaux 
mixture might be sprayed on the plants when they 
are little, as a preventive. 

Celery. — For ordinary home use celery can be 
grown on almost any kind of rich garden soil, but 
for the best market success deep alluvial or re- 
claimed swamp ground is the kind to choose. At 



io6 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



Kalamazoo, Mich., famous for its celery, the soil I 
saw in the fields is black, moist, and filled with 
humus ; it lies very low and is drained by a network 
of open ditches. 

For the early crop in the North, sow seed in 
hotbeds about March ist (earlier in the South), and 
transplant to coldframes about April loth (see 
Chapter III for cultural details). The seed germi- 
nates very slowly and the young plants are weak ; 
plant seed rather thickly and see that the soil does 
not dry out until plants are well up. The plants may 
be moved to the open ground in May or early June. 
There is not a large demand for very early celery. 

For the late crop, seed may be sown outdoors 
as early in the spring as the ground can be worked. 
The soil should be fine and m.oist. Sow in drills 
about a foot apart and cover about three-eighths of 
an inch deep, afterward firming the soil by rolling, 
by pressing with the feet, or by tamping with the 
back of a hoe-blade. If the weather is very dry, 
germination may be hastened b}^ watering the seed- 
bed and then covering the rows with burlap until the 
plants are up. Start the hoe as soon as the rows 
can be seen. In early July dig the plants, shear or 
cut off a portion of the tops (read Chapter III), 
and transplant to rows for horse cultivation about 
three feet apart for the dwarf varieties or four feet 
for the tall kinds, plants spaced about six inches 
apart in the row. Be sure to firm the earth about 
the roots. (For small-garden culture, or where boards 
are used for blanching the crop, the rows may be 
closer together — say two or two and one-half feet 
apart. In fact, in a system called the "new celery 
culture," it is advocated that plants should be set 
very close together — about 6x8 inches apart — so 



LETTUCE. CELERY 



10/ 



that the leaves will meet and the plants blanch them- 
selves : this method, however, usually requires irri- 
gation to make it a success : the "self-blanching'' 
varieties are used, and the outer sides of the patch 
are covered with boards.) 

Blanching : Early or summer celery is usually 
blanched, after the first "handling,'' by standing 
twelve-inch-wide boards close against each side of 
the celery plants, the top edges hooked or cleated 
so as to be about three inches apart. The boards 
should be about twelve feet long, and are put on 
when the celery is about a foot high. I think that 
the board method is better than earth for summer 
blanching, because celery covered entirely with earth 
is more liable to rot or rust in warm weather. This 
blanching process requires two or three weeks after 
the boards are put on. Then the plants can be dug, 
as wanted, and sold or used. (Xote: In very small 
gardens celery may easily be blanched by slipping 
a piece of tile over each 
plant.) 

The late crop of cel- 
ery is usually blanched by 
hilling earth gradually up 
to the plants on both sides 
of the row. This kind of 
blanching is not begun un- 
til the hot summer weather 
is over, the weather cool, 
and the plants well grown. 
The first part of the 
blanching process is 
called "handling" This, 
in plain English, means 
to gather together with 




A HORSE-DRA\%TSr CELER Y-HILLER 

IS A GREAT HELP IN THE 
BLANCHING PROCESS 



io8 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



the hands a plant's sprawling leaves and stalks, 
bring them together in compact, upright form, and 
then hold them in place by drawing up and compact- 
ing enough soil around the clump of stalks. In about 
two weeks more earth is drawn up around the new 
growth. Later, a third hilling-up may be required; 
this, and the second one, is easily accomplished in 
large fields by using a horse-drawn celery-hiller 
sold especially for the purpose (or a one-horse plow 
might be used, or a cultivator rigged to throw soil 
toward both sides). The work must be done when 
the soil and celery plants are dry, as hilling or hand- 
ling in a moist condition favors rust or rot, or both. 

All celery requires some kind of blanching — even 
the so-called "self-blanching" varieties need the shade 
of the extra-close planting I mentioned a few para- 
graphs back. 

Varieties : White Plume and Golden Self- 
Blanching are good early kinds. Kalamazoo, Golden 
Dwarf, Boston Market, Giant Pascal, etc., are ex- 
cellent fall and winter varieties. I do not like the 
Giant Pascal type so well as the smaller kinds. 

Packing and marketing: Celery when fully 
grown and blanched, is dug, and prepared for mar- 
ket by trimming off the roots so as to leave the short 
solid stem. The tops are never cut, but any loose or 
untidy outside stems and leaves may be removed. 
The stalks when thus dressed, and washed, are made 
into bundles of one dozen each, says W. N. Hutt, 
Maryland, and tied twice with light tape to hold the 
stalks together in position. These bundles are packed 
into a ventilated crate, which in Maryland is 22 x 24 
inches and twenty inches high. The crate is packed 
full, placing the stalks in upright position. The crate 
will hold ten or a dozen bundles of ordinary size. 



LETTUCE. CELERY 



109 



In some localities celery is shipped in crates where 
the bunches are laid flat and the tops lapped. 

Storing : Celery will withstand considerable 
light frost, but its keeping qualities and flavor will 
be injured by hard freezing. 

Large northern growers handle the last of the 
crop by the method known as trenching. The celery 
is nrst partially banked with earth and allowed to 
remain where 
grown so long as 
there is no dan- 
ger from heavy 
frosts. Then 
comes the work 
of digging the 
plants to be 
trenched. Trench- 
ing will be great- 
ly facilitated by 
setting up two 
parallel lines of 
t w e 1 A- e - inch 
boards, about 
eighteen or 
twenty inches apart, between which the dug celery is 
packed with the roots embedded in the soil. When 
the space between the boards is filled, soil is thrown 
up on the outside to the tops of the boards. The 
boards are then lifted out and used again, the soil 
being allov^-ed to come in direct contact with the 
celery. These trenches are usually made only fifty 
or sixty feet in length and are small enough to per- 
mit the removal of a whole trench at one time. As 
colder weather approaches, the celery is either re- 
moved and marketed or a covering of boards, straw 




GATHERIXG B A R D-B L ANX H ED CELERY XEAR 
SAXFORD. FLA. — 1,200 CRATES TO THE ACRE 



no 



EIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



or corn fodder is placed over the tops for pro- 
tection. 

Small quantities of celery, for table use, can be 
removed from these trenches from time to time, and 
stored with the roots in earth in the coolest part of 
the house cellar. 

Insects and diseases : Insects seldom trouble 
the celery crop much, although sometimes celery 
caterpillars (pale green, with black and white marks) 
are bothersome. Buhach will kill them; some grow- 
ers pick them off by hand. Blight, leaf spot, and 
rust often occur, but may be largely prevented by 
spraying half-strength Bordeaux mixture on the 
plants in the seedbed : the spray may be repeated at 
intervals if necessary when the plants are trans- 
planted to the field. Rot has already been mentioned 
(see Blanching). Pithy stalks generally result from 
too much heat and not enough moisture when the 
young plants are growing in the field; inferior seed 
is also often the cause. 



Chapter XI 



CABBAGE AXD CAULIFLOWER 

Also Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Kale, Kohlrabi 

EARLY cabbage should be started in hot- 
beds about February ist in the North 
(earlier in the South), and transplanted 
to coldframes in about a month. Do 
^ not force cabbage along too rapidly; 
aim to have short, stocky plants rather 




than tall, spindling ones. (See Chapter 
III for cultural directions.) If well 
hardened off, the plants can usually be 



transplanted to the open ground early 
in April. A heavily-fertilized sandy or clay loam, 
well drained and fine and mellow, is good. Applica- 
tions of nitrate of soda or liquid manure are a help 
in hurrying the plants along in the field (see Chap- 
ter IV). The cabbage is a gross feeder and requires 
large quantities of manure, fertilizer and moisture. 
For hoe cultivation the rows may be about two feet 
apart; for horse work about two and one-half feet. 
Space the plants about sixteen inches apart (more 
or less, according to variety; Early Jersey Wake- 
field — the favorite very early kind — is sometimes set 
only fourteen inches apart in the rows, while Early 
Summer, Succession, All-Head, All-Seasons, etc., do 
better at eighteen inches). Young cabbage plants are 
sometimes used for greens, and are then called "col- 
lards" ; the true collard, however, is a kind of kale 
much grown in the South. 



112 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



Late cabbage plants are usually grown in a seed- 
bed outdoors, planting the seed in April or early 
May in the northern states, in rows about a foot 
apart. Cover seed about half an inch deep. One 
ounce of seed will sow about 300 feet of drill and 
should furnish about 2,000 plants. Transplant to the 
field in June or early July — as a succession crop to 
follow some earlier vegetable. Late cabbage may be 
planted on heavier, wetter 
soils than should the early 
crop ; some of the best 
late cabbage fields I have 
ever seen were on black- 
looking bottom lands that 
would do equally well for 
celery. Field rows for 
large, late varieties should 
not be closer than two 
and one-half feet; plants 
about two feet apart in 
the row. (Extensive 
growers often set cab- 
bage 2^ X 2^ feet, and 
cultivate with a horse both 
zi^ays — thus saving much 
hand hoeing.) If cab- 
bage heads show signs of 
bursting, pull the head enough to break some of the 
roots. This helps to stop excessive growth. Dan- 
ish Ball, Late Flat Dutch, Drumhead, Surehead, etc., 
are well-known late varieties for June setting (if the 
setting is delayed until early July, the crop will be 
more likely to mature if you use second-early varie- 
ties such as Succession, All-Head, etc.). Red cab- 
bage and Savoy cabbage are liked by some people. 




EARLY JERSEY WAKEFIELD IS A 
FAVORITE EARLY CABBAGE 



CABBAGE AND CAULIFLOWER 



Marketing cabbage : A considerable portion of 
the late cabbage crop is handled in bulk. Some 
growers sell by the ton to kraut factories. The best 
carrier for shipping early cabbage is the barrel-sized 
crate. 

Storing late cabbage : It is a mistake to delay 
harvesting the winter crop until the outer leaves 
have been frozen hard several times and when there 
is danger of unbroken winter weather, says Penn- 
sylvania Bulletin No. 147. In this state it is not safe 
to postpone harvesting later than the tenth of No- 
vember. Various methods of storing winter cabbage 
are used with good success. The ^ 



Danish Ball is the best keeper that 
can be grown. In large producing 
districts, frost-proof storage houses 
are designed and built especially for 
the purpose. IMany growers store in 
barns or caves. Some pile or store 
the untrimmed heads in protected 




spots, as along fences, covering after 

severe weather begins with straw, storing cabbage 

corn stalks, leaves or other coarse —cornstalks 
. ' . . . all around 

material. Burymg is a favorite plan 

with some, and there is no better way to preserve 

cabbage in a fresh, crisp condition : Line up on a 

well-drained part of the ground three rows of heads, 

placed close together, turned upside down. Then 

with a team and plow, draw two furrows, throwing 

soil as much as possible on the cabbage. Then finish 

with shovels, placing five or six inches of soil on the 

heads. /\fter the ground is frozen to the depth of 

an inch or two, cover with strawy manure to the 

depth of several inches. 

Insects and diseases : Root maggots are a serious 



114 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



pest ; consult Chapter VII for general remedies. One 
of the most successful remedies (for cabbage or 
cauliflower) is the use of pads of tarred paper. The 
pads are cut in a hexagonal form in order to econo- 
mize the material, and a thinner grade of tarred 
paper than the ordinary roofing felt is used. The 
dotted lines in the illustration represent slits or cuts 
in each piece. Pads should be about two and one- 
half inches in diameter; one thickness of paper is 
enough. By having a steel die made, the complete 




pads can be quickly and easily punched 
out. The pads should be placed about 
the plants at the time of transplanting 
to the open ground. To place one, 
bend it slightly, to open the slit, then 
slip it on the plant, the stem enter- 
ing the slit, after which spread the 



pad out flat, and press the points formed by the 
star-shaped cut snugly around the stem. When in 
place, the pad rests flat on the ground, completely 
encircling the stem and fitting tightly around it — 
the idea being to prevent the root-maggot fly from 
depositing her eggs on stem near the ground. Plants 
while in the seedbed should be protected with mos- 
quito-netting. 

Cabbage worms — green and plentiful — are well 
known to every cabbage grower ; they are the larvae 
of the white butterflies which fl.y around cabbage 
fields. Remedies : The main secret of success is 
regular, persistent treatment nearly every week. One 
treatment alone does little good, owing to the fact 
that new egg supplies are being placed on the cab- 
bages by the butterflies all summer. Buhach is a 
safe and an excellent remedy to use (see Chapter 
V). Hot water: Water at a temperature of 130° 



CABBAGE AND CAULIFLOWER 



will kill every worm it touches without injuring the 
plants. Kerosene emulsion : An excellent remedy- 
while the plants are young, but may give the heads a 
bad taste if used too late. Air-slaked lime: Some 
growers say that this (or, in fact, fine dry road dust, 
or any powdery substance) will kill every worm it 
covers. 

Cutworms work only at night. These worms 
like to eat through the stems of cabbages, cauliflower, 
tomatoes, etc. Several methods of combating cut- 
worms have been invented, such as killing them with 
poisoned bait scattered along the plant rows, etc., 
but one of the best ways is to fence them out. Cut 
some stiff paper (tar-paper is good) into strips about 
eight inches long and two inches wide. Put a strip 
around a plant's stem, tightly lap the edges an inch, 
and push the lower half of the circle into the soil — 
to anchor it and to prevent worms from burrowing 
beneath. Have the circle an inch away from stem. 

Flea beetles have in recent years been destruc- 
tive to young cabbage, radish and turnip plants. 
Tobacco dust, applied freely, will usually drive the 
pests away. Lime flavored with Paris green will 
also help in most cases. In the seedbed the plants 
can be protected with mosquito-netting. 

Lice often attack cabbage. Remedies are given 
in Chapter V. 

Club-root is the most common and dangerous 
cabbage and cauliflower disease. There is no cure, 
but there are preventive measures. Infected plants, 
refuse in cabbage fields, etc., should be burned. Ro- 
tation of crops should be practised. Lime used 
liberally on cabbage ground is an excellent prevent- 
ive. The disease, however, usually makes its first 
appearance in the seedbed, and can there be best 



ii6 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



treated. The roots become swollen and distorted, 
and the leaves look sickly. Treating the seedbed 
soil with bisulphide of carbon, before planting, has 
been recommended. It might also be advisable to 
treat the seed, before sowing, as follows : Put the 
seed in a cloth sack and soak for two hours in a 
solution of one ounce of formalin in about three and 
one-quarter gallons of water ; dry and sow at once. 
Or try the onion-smut remedy (lime and sulphur) 
given in Chapter VII. 

Cauliflower. — This vegetable is grown in prac- 
tically the same way as cabbage, but I find that it is 
a much more difficult crop to bring to perfection. 
It succeeds best in a cool and moist climate, and m 
a rich, moist soil. Irrigation is a great help. Buy 
only the best seed; and push growth steadily along 
by regular cultivation. After the head forms, tie the 



same as late cabbage. When prepared for market, 
the leaves are usually neatly trimmed off even with 
top of head, and the heads are packed in baskets, 
crates, etc. Insects and diseases are the same as 
those that infest cabbage; which m.ay also be said of 
the following vegetables : 



IF YOU can't hoe out EVERY 
WEED, BE HUMBLE AND PULL "EM 




leaves together over it 
to prevent sunburning. 
Early Snowball or Early 
Dwarf Erfurt may be 
started in hotbeds about 
Eebruary ist, and trans- 
planted in the same 
manner as advised for 
early cabbage. Algiers 
and Veitch's Autumn 
Giant may be started in 
an outdoor seedbed the 



CABBAGE AND CAULIFLOWER 



117 



Broccoli. — Not much known in this country. 
Very similar to the late varieties of cauliflower. 

Brussels Sprouts. — Belongs to the cabbage fam- 
ily, but instead of forming a large head, miniature 
sprouts or cabbages are borne along the stem — 
which sprouts are considered a delicacy when young 
and tender. Usually grown as a late crop, by sowing 
seeds outdoors in June and transplanting about 
August 1st. Light freezing does not hurt the crop. 
Or an early crop may be grown and cultivated the 
same as cabbage. 

Kale. — This is a form of cabbage which does 
not head; its large leaves are used for greens, and it 
is sometimes called ''borecole." Kale is sown out- 
doors in the North in the spring, and is not us-ually 
transplanted. Row^s the same as for cabbage plants ; 
thin the plants to about fifteen inches apart. Kale 
is very hardy and is improved by freezing. 

Sea-kale : Differs from the foregoing and is 
little known in this country. A spring vegetable, 
says Long Island Agronomist, earlier than asparagus. 
From seed sown in May good plants can be set, 
like asparagus, into a permanent bed in September 
and will remain for years. Earth is lightly piled 
over the bed to a height of about a foot in early 
spring, and when the shoots come through this cover- 
ing they are cut off to the roots. This gives stalks 
of kale much resembling celery; pull the leaves 
apart as you would celery, cook in boiling salted 
water until tender and serve with drawn butter, 
with or without vinegar, as taste desires. 

Kohlrabi. — This is a turnip-rooted cabbage, and 
the tuber is the edible part. Not much grown in the 
United States. Hardy. Sow the same as kale, and 
use the bulbs when young and tender. 



Chapter XII 
CORN. BEANS. SWEET POTATOES 

"Great helper in tJie cook's rare art. 
The complete garden does its part." 

WEET or sugar corn will do nicely on 
almost any warm, well-drained, fairly- 
rich soil ; it does especially well, I can 
testify, on a turned-under clover sod. 
It is a tender plant and sowings should 
not be made in the North until early in 
May. In the garden, corn may best be 
planted in rows about four feet apart 
(not in hills like the farmers' field 
corn). Sow the seed thinly in drills and cover about 
two inches deep (see Chapter V in regard to tarring 
the seed), and thin the plants when well up to about 
eight inches apart. Cultivate, thoroughly. Make suc- 
cessional sowings at ten-day intervals, until about 
July 15th. Corn is usually sold at retail by the dozen 
ears, and is shipped in various kinds of packages — 
crates, barrels, baskets, sacks, etc. The ears are not 
good unless pulled at just the right stage of juicy 
development. 

Varieties : Cory, Crosby, Early Minnesota, 
Black Mexican, etc., are good early and second- 
early kinds. Country Gentleman, Stowell's Ever- 
green, etc., are standard late varieties. I grow all 
of these. 

Insects and diseases : Wireworms in the soil 
are often troublesome (see Chapter VIII). Cut- 
worms bother, too, but the wise grower plants 




120 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



enough seed to insure a stand despite the cutworms' 
attacks. Webworms and Hce sometimes attack the 
leaves (see buhach, and Hce remedies, in Chapter 
V). The corn-worm often eats the kernels of ripen- 
ing corn, but no very satisfactory remedies are 
known. Smut (a white or black fungus) is rather 
common ; burn diseased leaves and ears ; never 
throw them on the manure pile. 

Popcorn. — Usually grown as a farm crop, 
planted in hills about 3x3 feet apart, but may be 
grown in the garden the same as sweet corn, if 
desired. White Rice is the standard kind. Let the 
ears become thoroughly ripe and hard before gath- 
ering, and hang them in the attic until dry enough 
to pop. Do not plant popcorn near sweet corn, nor 
sweet corn near field corn, or the two kinds will 
mix. 

Beans. — All the varieties are tender and should 
not in the North be planted in the open ground 
until about May loth (earlier farther south). First 
let us consider the edible-pod bush kinds known as 
''snap" or ''string" beans. These are of two general 
types — the green-podded varieties (such as String- 
less, Early ]\Iohawk, Earliest Red Valentine, etc.), 
and the wax-podded kinds (such as Wardwell's 
Kidney Wax, Golden Wax, Valentine Wax, Yo- 
semite Mammoth Wax, Stringless Wax, Perfection 
Wax, etc.). Sow in drills about two feet apart (two 
and one-half feet apart if to be worked with a horse 
cultivator) and cover seed not more than two inches 
deep. Thin the plants, when well up, to about four 
inches apart. Make successional sowings every two 
weeks, if you wish, until August ist. Beans prefer 
a mellow, warm, rich soil ; but do not give them too 
much nitrogen or they'll "run all to vines." One 



CORN. BEANS. SWEET POTATOES 



121 



quart of seed will sow about 150 feet of drill. Do 
not cultivate or pick beans when the vines are wet, 
says Harriet, and I agree to that. 

Snap beans for market are usually picked when 
about half mature, and are packed without washing 
in various kinds of baskets and crates. The round, 
one-third-barrel veneer basket is a favorite in some 
of the eastern states. In some localities beans can 
be sold in bulk to canning factories. 

White navy or other beans for winter use are 
farm crops rather than garden crops and need not be 
considered here. Pole beans of the "snap" variety 
are listed in seed catalogs, but the bush kinds already 
mentioned are more handy to grow and I prefer 
them. 

Lima beans : Plant about ten days later than 
snap beans. The bush limas (Burpee's, Henderson's, 
etc.,) should be planted in rows as advise'd for snap 
beans, but spaced about eighteen inches apart in the 
rows. No stakes or supports are necessary. Bush 
limas are best for extreme northern localities, for 
they do not require such a long season as the pole 
limas. 

Pole limas (Early Leviathan and King of the 
Garden are good varie- 
ties) are usually 
planted, if in large 
fields, four feet apart 
each way (2,722 hills 
to the acre) and culti- 
vated both ways so as 
to save considerable 
hand work ; or the hills 
are often spaced three 
feet in four-foot-apart 




PLANT ABOUT SEVEN LIMA BEANS 
AROUND EACH POLE 



122 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



rows, and cultivated only one way (3,630 hills to the 
acre). Manure and fertilizer are generally applied to 
each hill, and the poles are set in the center, before 
planting the seed. Plant about seven beans around 
each pole, eye downward, cover about an inch deep, 
and when the plants are well up thin out to about 
three plants to a pole. The seed is very apt to rot 
in the ground if soil is too wet or cold. A Xew 
Jersey bean grower informs me that he greases the 
beans with lard before planting, and thus prevents 
the rot of seed. He lards a quantity at a time in 
a large pan, working a little lard into the mass 
with his hands. One quart should plant about 100 
hills. 

The hills may, or may not, be raised a little 
above the ground level ; personally I prefer them 
nearly level. Manure and fertilizer should be well 
mixed with soil in each 
hill, with a two-inch top 
layer of ordinary earth. 
Poles are preferably of 
cedar because that wood 
is so durable, but any 
stout pole about seven and 
a half feet long will do. 
These are easily set in 
holes about a foot and a 
half deep made with an 
iron crowbar (see illus- 
tration). Poles will last 
a long time if stored 
under cover in winter. 
When poles can not be procured, the use of braced 
end-posts and wires will answer the purpose and 
save room in a small garden. One wire should be 




CORN. BEANS. SWEET POTATCES 



123 



Strung about six feet high, and another about six 
inches from the ground — directly over the four- foot 
row, with the beans planted as close together as 
eighteen inches so as to take full advantage of this 
trellis system. When the beans begin to run, binder 
twine may be woven zigzag fashion between the two 
wires to form a trellis for the bean vines to climb on. 

Some folks nip off the vine tips when they've 
reached the top of the poles or wires — to check 
growth and hasten the formation of beans. 

Limas may be forced by starting them about a 
month earlier in dirt-bands, pots, etc., under glass, 
and then moving them to the outdoor hills about 
May 25th in the North, or when the second leaves 
are formed. (See Chapter III.) Or they may be 
forced in a small way in the outdoor hills, by using 
the box-and-glass arrangement pictured in Chapter 
XIIL 

Marketing limas : When the shape of the beans 
can be distinctly seen in the pods, it is about time 
to pick them ; of course several pickings are made at 
different times, until frost stops growth. Green 
limas are packed and shipped in their pods in various 
kinds of baskets, etc., or are sometimes sold at retail, 
shelled, by the quart. 

Bean insects and diseases : The principal insect 
pests are the weevil (see Chapter VIII), and cut- 
worms (Chapter XI). Several kinds of beetles 
sometimes eat the leaves ; spraying the vines with 
buhach may help to discourage them, or they may 
be knocked into pans of kerosene. Mildew, rust 
and blight can be largely controlled by early spray- 
ings with Bordeaux. 

Sweet Potatoes. — For best success this crop de- 
mands a loose, sandy soil and a long, warm season; 



124 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



therefore it is not grown, commercially, very far 
north, although a supply for home use may be 
grown almost anywhere south of central Michigan. 
A very rich soil is not necessary; too much nitrogen 
causes the plants to "run all to vines," but there 
should be plenty of potash and phosphoric acid. 

The greater portion of the commercial crop is 
grown from sets, or ''draws," produced by sprouting 
medium-sized potatoes in a warm bed of soil. In the 
southern states the seed potatoes are sometimes cut 
into pieces in the same manner as Irish potatoes and 
planted in the row where they are to mature. In 
the south Atlantic and Gulf Coast states the sweet 
potato is frequently propagated by making vine cut- 
tings. Where only a small area of sweet potatoes is 
to be grown for home use, the necessary plants can 
best be secured from some one who makes a busi- 
ness of growing them. If an acre or more is to be 
planted, the grower should write to the U. S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, and get a 
copy of free Farmers' Bulletin No. 324, which gives 
full details impossible to give in the space at my 
command. 

The "ridge" method of culture is quite common. 
Probably it is the best way for the small garden. 
Low ridges about a foot wide are thrown up, say 
three feet apart from center to center, and are 
rolled, or are allowed to settle a week or two be- 
fore planting begins. The plants are set about fif- 
teen inches apart along the center of each ridge. 
Level planting is also practised, with the plants set 
about thirty inches apart each way. This permits of 
cultivating both ways until the vines interfere. 

In the North the plants are usually set the latter 
part of May or the first of June; earlier in the 



CORN. BEANS. SWEET POTATOES 



South. They are very sensitive to cold. Cultivation 
should be thorough. The vines need disturbing to 
keep them from rooting at the joints. 

Varieties : Yellow Nansemond and Jersey are 
much planted in the North. Vineless (it has shorter 
vines) is popular, too. These are dry and mealy- 
fleshed — qualities which seem to be preferred in 
northern kitchens. In the South the moist-fleshed, 
sugary tubers (often called "yams") are preferred. 
Southern Queen is a good one of this type. 

Insects and diseases : Cutworms and flea-beetles 
(see Chapter XI) sometimes bother. There is also 
a white grub or borer which burrows in the vines 
or roots ; infested vines should be pulled up and 
burned. Sweet potatoes are also subject to fungous 
rot, leaf-spot, scab, white rust, etc. Early sprayings 
with half-strength Bordeaux and rotation of crops 
are helps. Also the storage house, before storing 
tubers therein, should be fumigated with sulphur 
fumes. 

Digging, storing and marketing : Some growers 
contend that sweet potatoes should be dug just be- 
fore the vines are frosted. Experience proves, how- 
ever, that they will keep all right if dug soon after 
a light frost. In the absence of a machine digger, 
the potatoes can be plowed out with a two-horse 
turning plow with a sharp rolling cutter attached to 
cue the vines. Or they may be dug out by hand 
with an ordinary potato hook. Handle as little as 
possible. Be careful not to bruise. Slatted bushel 
crates are best for handling potatoes, either sweet or 
Irish. If not filled level full, they can be stacked 
on top of each other in the wagon or elsewhere 
without injury to the potatoes. Only straight, 
smooth potatoes and none smaller than one and one- 



126 



HIGGLE GARDEN BCOK 



half inches should be included with those intended 
for market. The crooked, cut and broken potatoes, 
and those affected with 
. > black rot, should be saved 



used. If you want to store a large crop, consult 
Farmers' Bulletin No. 324 in regard to commercial 
storage methods. If you want to store a few tubers 
for home use, put them in ventilated crates or bas- 
kets in a dry, warm, frost-proof room. Do not put 
them in the cellar. If each tuber is wrapped in a 
piece of newspaper, the potatoes will keep longer. A 
few might be wrapped and put in paper bags and 
hung near the ceiling. 

Remember : That it is always advantageous 
to grade and pack goods with care so that the quality 
will run uniform throughout, and then mark the con- 
tents neatly on the package. That if perishable goods 
come on the market late in the day they never sell 
so well or for so much as when in early. That the 
best goods sell to the best trade, and other goods to 
the cheap trade, and each has its level of prices. 




Pack for shipment in 
barrels with burlap tied 
over the head, or in baskets, 
or whatever package your 
market prefers. The one- 
third-barrel, round, veneer 
basket lined and topped with 
paper, with a wooden cover, 
is a favorite Maryland 
package for fancy ''sweets." 
In Illinois the eleven-peck 
barrel lined with paper is 



to feed to animals. 



ONE CLUSTER OF SWEETS 
WEIGHT, EIGHT POUNDS. 
BE CAREFUL NOT TO 
BRUISE 



Chapter XIII 



CUCUMBER. MELON. PUMPKIN. SQUASH 



planting date would be about March 15th. A light 
loamy or sandy soil is best. Put a handful of com- 
plete fertilizer and a shovelful of well-rotted manure 
or compost in each hill, mix well with the soil and 
put two inches of "plain dirt" on top. I prefer low 
hills that are very little if any above the ground level, 
each hill about a foot in diameter. Sow plenty of 
seed — about fifteen seeds scattered all over the hill, 
covered half an inch deep and firmed with the back 
of a hoe. When the vines are well up, thin out half 
of them ; when the remainder begin to run, thin 
them out so as to leave only three — well spaced. Cul- 
tivate and hoe (shallow) until the vines prevent. 
Some growers practise nipping off the tips of lead- 
ing shoots when three or four feet in length, to 
force out side shoots and hasten fruiting. 

These crops — especially melons and cucumbers — 
are oftentimes hurried along by planting the seed 



Plant fJic seeds and use the hoe, 



Balmy he the zceather; 
Grozi'th is sure though it be sloiv, 
And tJie liarvest time we'll know. 




LL of the crops mentioned in 
this chapter are tender and 
seed -should not be planted in 
the open ground in the North 
until the weather is warm and 
settled — say atout May 15th. 
In Georgia, I am told, the 



128 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



about a month earlier in dirt-bands, in pots, or on 
inverted pieces of sod (see Chapter III), and raising 
the plants under glass, or — on a small scale — in the 
kitchen window. Then, without disturbing the roots 
in the least, the plants are moved to hills outdoors 
the latter part of May when the weather is warm 
and settled. Or, if only a few hills are wanted, 
here's another way to force the plants : Sow the 
seed in permanent hills 
outdoors early in April 
(in the North), and cover 
each hill with a small box 
of any kind or shape, 
without a bottom and with 
a piece of glass laid on 
for a top (see illustra- 
tion). Thus you have a 
cheap, rough, miniature 
coldframe over each hill, 
which serves the double 
purpose of raising extra- 
early plants, and protect- 
ing them from insects un- 
A GLASS-COVERED BOX OVER til thcy gct SO big that the 
boxes must be removed. 

ETC. PHOTO TAKEN MAY . . - 

9th in new jersey a piece of mosquito-net- 

ting over the top will keep 
out bugs whenever the glass is removed for ventila- 
tion (and ventilation must be closely attended to 
whenever the weather permits). 

The foregoing general directions apply to all 
these vine crops. The following are additional and 
special points about each : 

Cucumbers. — In large fields cucumbers for 
pickles are often planted in hills 5x5 feet apart 




CUCUMBER. MELON. PUMPKIN. SQUASH 1 29 



(1,742 to the acre), and cultivated both ways until 
the vines cover the ground. One ounce of seed will 
plant about fifty hills ; about two pounds to the acre. 
Sowings or successional sowings may be made as 
late as early July in the North ; in fact, pickle grow- 
ers sometimes plant late on purpose — to escape the 
worst of the bug attack. Chicago Pickle, Everbear- 
ing, Early Frame, etc., are good pickling varieties. A 
small prickly kind called a gherkin is sometimes 
grown. The crop is gathered in burlap bags and 
sold by the bushel or the hundred pounds to pickle 
factories, who usually make contracts in advance. 
Only pickles of a certain specified size are wanted 
(usually three or four inches in length, sometimes 
smaller). Pickers must be hired, for the crop should 
be picked regularly, systematically and often ; for if 
any of the cucumbers are allowed to grow large and 
mature seeds, the production of the vine soon stops 
(this rule applies to all cucumbers, and to some other 
things) . 

Cucumbers for table use may be planted the same 
as pickles, but are usually planted early because 
wanted early. For one-way gardeii culture I like to 
have the rows six feet apart, and hills about four feet 
apart in the row. White Spine is an excellent large 
variety. For market, cucumbers should be full size, 
green and not too ripe, and graded as to size. One- 
third-barrel round veneer baskets are often used as 
a shipping package in the East. (Table cucumbers 
are sometimes forced in greenhouses in the winter ; 
consult Farmers' Bulletin No. 254.) 

A hint for the boys : Without detaching it from 
the vine, slip a small cucumber into a fair-sized bot- 
tle, and after it grows so as to fill the space cut it 
from the vine. Folks will wonder how it got there. 



130 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



Another hint : Spade up the ground in a large 
circle. Take a barrel, with the bottom knocked out, 
set it in the center of the circle and fill it two-thirds 
full of well-rotted xaanure. Plant cucumber seeds 
in hills around the barrel, and every day turn in upon 
the manure a pail or two of water. The water will 
soak its way through and keep the ground moist 
and rich. 

MusKMELONS. — Rows six feet apart and hills 
four feet apart in the row, are about right. E. R, 
Jinnette plants 5x5 feet and trains the vines all one 
way in the row to facilitate cultivating and picking. 
Earliness counts with this crop. Rocky Ford, Netted 
Gem, Osage, Paul Rose, Jenny Lind, Montreal Mar- 
ket, Hackensack, Blinn, etc., are favorite varieties. 
(Note: Muskmelons are often wrongly called canta- 
loupes. The true cantaloupe, says Prof. Bailey, is 
a distinct kind having a hard, warty rind; it is fre- 
quently grown in Europe, but is not much grown in 
this country.) 

Climax baskets (one-third-bushel size with 
slatted cover) are a popular Illinois shipping package. 
A slatted crate 12x12x22^4 inches (inside measure- 
ment), holding forty- five melons each, is a well- 
known Colorado package. Other styles of packages 
are used. The fruit should be graded as to size, and 
packed so that the ribs of the fruit all run length- 
wise of the package — this gives an attractive appear- 
ance. How to tell when a muskmelon is ripe : Only 
sound, heavily-netted, mature melons should be 
shipped. But they must not be soft nor over-ripe. 
When the stem parts readily from the melon is the 
right time ; if not picked promptly then it soon turns 
yellow and soft. The vines should be picked over 
every day; sometimes twice a day. 



CUCUMBER. MELON. PUMPKIN. SQUASH I3I 

Watermelons. — Eight by eight feet suits me 
for these long-running vines ; some growers prefer 
them even farther apart. A long growing season is 
required, and therefore only very early varieties can 
be successfully grown in the North. Cole's Early 
is good for this purpose. In the South watermelon 
growing is a large industry, and carload shipments 
are made. Kentucky Wonder, Sweetheart, Seminole, 
Kolb's Gem, Gypsy, Dixie, etc., are favorite southern 
kinds. 

There is a variety known as "citron," the rind 
of which is used for preserves. The flesh is not 
edible. The real citron of commerce comes from the 
fruit of a tree grown only in the far South. 

The knowledge of telling a ripe watermelon 
comes mainly by experience and observation, says 
a southern grower. It is often claimed that when 
the little "curl" or tendril on the stem is dead, the 
melon is ripe; if green, the melon is also green. 
This is not altogether a reliable sign. The flat, dead 
sound emitted by the melon 

when thumped with the finger V''if"^^'^%'^,ji/^'''^ 
is also an indication of ripe- ^f^^^^^^-^^ 
ness. If on turning the melon 
over and exposing the under 
side, the white blotches are 
found yellowish, rough, and 
warty, with the surface suffi- 
ciently hard to resist the finger nail when scratched, 
it is another sign of ripeness. After the melon looks 
ripe and thumps as if it were ripe, and if on pressing 
it down, the interior appears to give, and this is also 
accompanied by a slight crisp crackling, the melon 
is almost sure to be ripe. (Melons that are to be 
shipped should not be put to this latter test.) 




132 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



Pumpkins. — Usually grown by farmers in corn 
fields. Seldom grown in the garden, but may be 
planted, if desired, the same as watermelons. Quaker 
Pie and Sugar are good varieties for home use. 

Squash. — White Bush, Golden Custard Bush 
and Yellow Summer Crookneck are favorite summer 
kinds. Hills for these should be about four feet 
apart each way. Of the winter varieties, Hubbard 
is the best known. Marblehead, Boston ]\Iarrow, Es- 
sex Hybrid, etc., are also grown. Prize squash, etc., 
of extra size may be raised by leaving only one 
selected specimen on a vine ; cut all others off and 
remove blossoms, nip the ends off vines, and apply 
liquid manure frequently to roots. 

Plant winter squash the same distance apart as 
watermelons. Late-planted squash, I've discovered, 
often escape the black squash-bugs. This, and yearly 
rotation, are the two secrets of success. Try plant- 
ing some Hubbard seed the middle of June, choosing 
a spot where no similar crop has been recently 
grown, n a few bugs do find the vines, pick oft* 
the pests in the early morning and kill them. Try 
covering the vines about the hills with a mound 
of loose earth — doing this about the time of the last 
cultivation, with a hoe. This will prevent the 
ravages of the squash root-borer which attacks the 
growing plants about that time, as usually the vines 
will start rootlets within this covering, and in spite 
of the injury done to their roots will grow and set 
nice squashes which will mature in this manner. 
Gather winter squash before they are frosted, and 
store in a dry place. 

Insects and diseases : The following are ene- 
mies of all the crops mentioned in this chapter. First 
in importance is the well-known ''striped bug" or 



CUCUMBER. MELON. PUMPKIN. SQUASH I33 



beetle which nearly always appears as soon as the 
plants are above ground. In a small garden the 
simplest remedy is a protecting cover of mosquito- 
netting over each hill. In large gardens, the plants 
may be kept well dusted with air-slaked lime, tobacco 
dust and a little Paris green, mixed. Or the young 
plants may be sprayed with Bordeaux, adding four 
pounds of arsenate of lead to fifty gallons. Some 
growers claim that an ordinary "moth ball" placed 
on each hill will keep the pests away. Flea-beetles 
and cutworms are sometimes troublesome (see Chap- 
ter XI). Then there is a worm or caterpillar that 
often makes trouble ; hand-picking is usually effect- 
ive, followed by burning old vines and rubbish, and 
rotation of crops. The louse or aphis often does 
considerable damage to the leaves and vines and 
is a difficult pest to combat because of its habit of 
hiding on the under side of the leaves. Use any 
of the lice remedies, and use an upward-spray noz- 
zle arrangement that will put the spray under the 
leaves (see illustration in Chapter V). The squash 
root-borer (see Squash) attacks other vines some- 
times. 

]\Iildew, rot, blight, etc., may best be held in 
check with the Bordeaux mixture, beginning early 
and repeating the spray at intervals until the fruit 
is half grown. (Use half-strength Bordeaux on 
watermelon vines.) 



Chapter XIV 



TOMATO. EGGPLANT. PEPPER 

Hozi' fJicsc vegetables do like to he tickled with a hoe! 
Iliiiiior 'em often. — Farmer A'incent. 

ARLY tomato plants are usually 
started in hotbeds in the North 
about February 15th. (Earlier in 
the South.) Refer to Chapter III 
for particulars of culture under 
glass, transplanting, etc. One ounce 
of seed should produce about 3,000 
plants. Remember that too high a 
temperature and too much moisture 
make spindling, weak plants. Sixty- 
five or 70° is about right. The first 
transplanting to other flats in hotbeds is done about 
March 15th, spacing 2x2 inches apart. If extra- 
large,- stocky plants are wanted, transplant them a 
second time, about April 15th, spacing them five 
inches apart, in coldframes or spent hotbeds. Finally, 
after well hardening-off, about the last of ]\Iay the 
plants are moved to permanent quarters in the open 
ground. (Owners of small gardens v/ill generally 
find it easier to buy plants than to raise them.) My 
late or main-crop plants are sown in hotbeds as late 
as April ist, transplanted to coldframes Alay ist, 
and set in the open ground about June ist. They are 
not so large then as the earlier-grown plants, but are 
all right for main crop. 

Outdoor rows should be four feet apart; plants 




136 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



set about three feet apart in the row. Or, if yon 
want a high, thick fence or screen (as shown in the 
back-yard picture on next page), the plants may be 



-«:^ 




A BARE TOWN BACK YARD. BEFORE AND — AFTER 
VSEE NEXT picture; 



set about two feet apart and trained up on a six- 
foot-high netting or trellis. Large fields are some- 
times set 4x4 feet {2,/22 plants to the acre) and 
cultivated both ways. A light, loamy soil is best for 
early tomatoes. A picture on page 138 shows a 
gardener applying fertilizer to hills in furrows : a 
little ■ rotted stable manure has previously been 
placed where each hill or plant is to be. This gar- 
dener afterward sets the plants over each enriched 
hill (his helper with a hoe first mixes soil with the 
hill of fertilizer and manure, puts more soil on top, 
and makes an opening for the plant). After each 
plant is set the soil is firmly trodden around it with 
the feet ; the furrow, between hills, is either filled 
with the hoe as the planting progresses, or the filling 
is done by cultivating crosswise after the entire field 
is set. 

The after cultivation should be thorough and 
regular. When the vines are large enough to need 
support they should be tied loosely to stakes about 



TOMATO. EGGPLANT. PEPPER 



four feet high (higher, if desired), or supported on 
high wire or wooden trellises, or on low A -shaped 
frames or racks, or on piles of brush placed beneath 
the vines — in fact, anything will answer that will keep 
them off the ground. (Where large areas of toma- 
toes are grown the vines are seldom supported.) 
Pinching off the tips of the main upper shoots when 
the plants on racks are about three feet high is prac- 




SAME BACK YARD AFTER GROWING FLOWERS, 
VINES AND A HIGH SCREEN OF TOMATOES 



tised by a few gardeners, who claim that it "makes 
the fruit earlier and finer'' ; some others train the 
vines to long stakes and regularly pinch off the side 
shoots ; many others do no pruning of any kind. 

Varieties of tomatoes : Earliana, Atlantic Prize, 
Chalk's Early Jewel, IMatchless, etc., are well-known 
early red kinds, the first-named being especially early, 
I find. Stone, Acme, Perfection, Jersey Red, Match- 
less, Beauty, etc., are good main-crop varieties. To- 
mato varieties soon "run out" and new kinds are 
constantly being introduced; so names change 



138 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



quickly. "Peach," Yellow "Plum," Red "Cherry," 
"Husk" and similar tomatoes are sometimes grown 
for preserves or as novelties. 

Marketing Tomatoes : Gathering should be done 
two or three times a week — sometimes every day — 
only picking the fruits that are ready each time. If 
to be shipped some distance, pick them when they are 
just beginning to color — even sooner for very long 
distances. For near-by market let them color all 
over, or nearly so, on the vines, but they should not 
be over-ripe and soft. Choice early tomatoes for 

distant shipment are 
usually packed in 
crates holding six 
baskets (similar to a 
Georgia peach crate), 
and each tom.ato is 
wrapped in paper. Or 
sometimes flat boxes 
carrying two layers 
of wrapped fruits are 
used. Later tomatoes 
from near-by points 
are packed in a variety of packages — bushel crates, 
half-bushel baskets, third-barrel baskets, etc. Toma- 
toes for canning factories are best handled in the 
slatted bushel boxes recommended for potatoes ; the 
factories contract to pay a certain price "per ton." 

If frost threatens before the tomatoes and pep- 
pers are all gathered, says Harriet (leaning over my 
shoulder as I write), cover them with cloths or 
papers and save them ; or pull the plants and hang 
them under a shed ; or cover with straw where they 
stand ; or pick the larger green tomatoes and let 
them ripen in the sun indoors ; or wrap each green 




APPLYING FERTILIZER TO MANURED 
HILLS IN FURROWS, FOR TOMA- 
TOES (see PAGE 136) 



TOMATO. EGGPLANT. PEPPER 



tomato in paper, store in a cool cellar, and keep for 
later ripening . in the sun. 

Insects and diseases : The large green tomato 
worm is the principal insect pest. Spray young plants 
with arsenate of lead ; hand-pick the worms on 
fruiting vines. Rot and blight are the chief diseases. 
Practise rotation of crops ; burn all diseased fruit 
and dead vines ; keep the vines off the ground ; spray 
with the Bordeaux mixture, beginning early and con- 
tinuing at intervals until a few weeks before picking 
time. 

Eggplant. — The plants are grown under glass 
the same as tomatoes, except that they require more 
heat and care in the hotbed, and need not be started 
quite so early. March ist is soon enough, in the 
North. One hotbed transplanting is sufficient if you 
space the plants well apart. To reach maturity, a 
long, warm season is required ; therefore commercial 
success with this crop can not be expected too far 
north. Choose a rich, loose, loamy soil ; clay is not 
so suitable ; neither is too wet a soil. New York Im- 
proved, Black Beauty and Black Pekin are the best 
varieties where the season is long enough ; in ex- 
treme northern localities the Early Dwarf Purple 
would be more apt to mature its fruit. Plants may 
be set 2^ X 2^^ feet outdoors about June ist in the 
North ; this is for hoe cultivation. For horse work 
in a large field, 3x3 feet would be better. 

Marketing eggplant: The fruit is usually cut 
from the stem when nearly full-grown and fully- 
colored. An over-ripe fruit changes from a bright 
to a dull purple, and the seeds inside begin to swell ; 
it is then worthless for market or table use. Gath- 
ering the fruits before they quite reach full size 
increases the crop. A marketable eggplant should be 



140 



HIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



from six to nine inches long. Wipe clean, sort as to 
size, and pack in barrels, baskets or crates. 

Diseases and insects : Anthracnose (pinkish pits 
or spots on the fruit), rot, mold, leaf-spot and stem- 
blight are best prevented and held in check by early 
and regular sprayings with the Bordeaux mixture. 
Flea-beetles, potato bugs, etc., often attack the vines 
(see remedies elsewhere). 

Peppers. — The mild, sweet varieties for slicing 
or stuffing are mostly in demand — such as Ruby King, 
Bull Nose, Sweet Mountain, Chinese Giant, Neapoli- 
tan, etc. Long Red Cayenne is the hot pepper of 
commerce ; Chili and Cranberry are pickling favor- 
ites. Grow plants in hotbeds the same as eggplant. 
Set outdoors late in May, in rows two and one-half 
feet apart, plants spaced twenty inches apart in the 
row. Marketing may begin when the peppers are 
a little more than half grown, and may continue 
until they are ripe. Open barrels, crates, baskets, 
etc., are used, each variety or size of pepper being 
kept by itself. Unlike eggplant or tomatoes, peppers 
often endure a small degree of frost in the fall 
(although while young the plants are very tender). 
Pepper plants are seldom troubled with insects ; 
anthracnose and rot are the most common diseases 
(see Eggplant). 

Fighting Frost. — Commercial truckers some- 
times save their tender vegetables, melons, etc., from 
untimely late-May or early-fall frosts, by lighting 
smudge fires here and there throughout the patch. 



Chapter XV 



MISCELLANEOUS 

Artichoke, Celeriac, Chard, Corx Salad, Cress, 
Endive, Ginseng, Herbs, Leek, Mushroom, 
Mustard, Okra, Parsley, Spinach, etc. 

"^HERE are two distinct kinds of arti- 
chokes — one is grown for its potato-like, 
underground tubers and is called Jeru- 
salem artichoke, and the other is called 
the Globe artichoke and the parts eaten 
are the unopened flower heads (and 
sometimes the young shoots). The for- 
mer kind is seldom grown in American 
gardens, being considered more suited 
for farm culture for stock food; per- 
fectly hardy; multiplies rapidly and will become a 
bad weed if not kept within bounds ; once planted 
it will maintain itself indefinitely; plant the tubers 
the same distance apart as you would potatoes. The 
Globe artichoke is propagated by seeds, or by suckers 
taken from other plants. Seeds do not grow true to 
name. Seedsmen sell plants for about $1.50 per 
dozen. Set them about 3x3 feet apart ; protect the 
crowns in winter with straw, etc. ; plants are good 
for about three years ; not often grown in this coun- 
try, but worth growing. 

Celeriac. — Little known in the L^nited States. 
It is a turnip-rooted kind of celery, and the ''turnip" 
is the edible part — either cooked or as a salad. 




142 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



Grown about the same as celery, but the stalks are 
not blanched ; the turnip part can be stored in winter 
the same as any other root crop. 

Chard. — Also called Swiss chard or "leaf beet." 
Few Americans know or value this member of the 
beet family, but Harriet and I have recently learned 
to prize it highly. Be sure to try some, early next 
spring. Sow the seed in rows about two feet apart 
and thin the plants so they'll stand about fif- 
teen inches apart in the row. The thinnings may 
be used for ''greens." When the plants are full- 
grown the large leaves and stalks may be pulled as 
wanted (about as you pull rhubarb). Sometimes 
Harriet cuts up and cooks leaves and stalks to- 
gether (as you would spinach) ; sometimes she cooks 
the w^hitish stalk part just as if it were asparagus, 
and uses only the leaves for "greens." Either way, 
the result is surprisingly pleasing. We like the greens 
better than spinach. The plants produce stalks and 
leaves until fall. Must be planted each year. Easy 
to grow. 

Corn Salad. — Hardy. Sow in early spring the 
same as lettuce. It matures in about seven weeks 
and furnishes a bunch of leaves for salad. Or may 
be sown late in summer for fall use. Seldom grown 
in this country. 

Cress. — There are two well-known kinds — 
"water cress," and "garden cress." (There is a 
third kind, called "upland cress," which is little 
known.) Water cress is a perennial and does best in 
moist places or in running water. Seed may be pur- 
chased of seedsmen and scattered along the edges of 
brooks, etc. It grows without care when once estab- 
lished. It may also be propagated by planting pieces 
of plant stems in the wet earth. Garden cress is an 



MISCELLANEOUS 



annual, nearly hardy, and may be sown in April in 
the garden like lettuce, or in late summer for fall 
use. Water cress is the kind usually seen in mar- 
kets, being better known than the garden variety. 

Endive. — Henry A. Dreer says : ''Endive is 
one of the best and most wholesome salads for fall 
and winter use. Sow in shallow drills in April for 
early use ; or for late use sow in June or July. When 
three inches high, transplant or thin out to one foot 
apart. When nearly full grown, and before they are 
fit for the table, the plants must be bleached. This 
is done by gathering the leaves together and tying, 
to exclude the light and air from the inner leaves, 
which must be done when quite dry, or they will rot. 
Another method is to cover the plants with boards 
or slats. In three or four weeks they will be 
blanched." 

Ginseng. — A hardy perennial plant found grow- 
ing wild in shady places in many parts of the coun- 
try, the roots of which are prized for medicinal pur- 
poses by the Chinese. Seeds are planted in the fall 
but usually do not germinate for eighteen months, 
and not at all if not expertly handled; therefore 
most gardeners who want to grow ginseng buy 
young plants or roots of some professional grower. 
The roots grow slowly, and five or six years must 
elapse before they are large enough to gather. A 
sandy-loam soil and partial shade are best. 

Some folks seem to see a big future for culti- 
vated ginseng ; but personal observation and inquiry 
have made me a little sceptical about it. I can not 
advise my readers to invest heavily in the business 
nor to build rosy air-castles on possible profits. The 
Chinese are the only buyers of the dried roots, and 
the commercial possibilities of the business are there- 



144 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



fore limited. I hear, too, that Chinese buyers dis- 
criminate in favor of the wild root, paying a less 
price for the cultivated product. Altogether it looks ^ 
to me as if the market might easily be glutted — and 
then what? If you want to make money, better let 
fads alone and stick to the staple products that 
everybody wants. For further information write to 
the U. S. Department of Agriculture and ask for 
bulletins on the subject of ginseng growing. 

Herbs. — These are of three kinds — pot herbs for 
flavoring, sweet herbs and medicinal herbs. It is a 
great pity that herbs are now seldom raised in the 
home garden. The use of 
them in medicine is perhaps 
not so great in these days 
when a doctor can be readily 
called, but in the old times no 
housewife was without a 
goodly show of them in the 
yard, and she dried them 
carefully for winter use. Nor 
are herbs used nowadays so 
much for flavoring in cook- 
ing; and, when they are de- 
sired, the pressed leaves are 
bought at the druggist's. The home-grown article is 
far better than money can buy. A hom.e with even 
.a small strip of land can find place for some of these 
plants which are so valuable. 

Herbs delight in a rich, mellow soil. Put them 
in a corner by themselves where they will not inter- 
fere with plowing, etc. When once started, little if 
any cultivation is needed except to keep out weeds. 
Sow seeds early in spring in shallow drills about 
Iwo feet apart ; when up a few inches thin out to 




PUTTING AWAY HERBS FOR 
WINTER USE 



MISCELLANEOUS 



a foot or more apart. Herbs should be cut on a 
dry day just before they come into full blossom, 
tied in bunches and hung up in the attic or spread 
thinly on a floor where they can dry quickly. Of 
course cuttings for daily use, green, may be made 
at any time, but too severe cutting weakens the plants. 
Seedsmen sell plants, ready to set, of some of the 
better-known herbs. Many of the perennial kinds 
may be propagated by dividing the roots — which is 
a good thing to do every few years ; and, when doing 
so, discard the old, run-out part of each clump. 

Among the better-known perennial herbs are the 
following: Balm, catnip, fennel, horehound, hyssop, 
lavender (not hardy too far north), sweet marjoram, 
pennyroyal, peppermint, rosemary, rue, sage, spear- 
mint, tansy, tarragon, thyme, winter savory, worm- 
wood. Anise, coriander, summer savory and sweet 
basil are annuals. Caraway and dill are biennials. 
A winter mulch of straw or leaves is a good thing 
for the perennial herbs. 

Leek. — Used in cooking, as a seasoning. Milder 
than the onion. Sow early in April, in drills one foot 
apart and one inch deep. When plants are six inches 
high, transplant in a deep, rich soil, in rows twelve 
inches apart and six inches in the rows, as deep as 
possible, so that the neck may be covered and 
blanched ; draw the earth to them as they grow. 
The seed may also be sown in August or September 
and plants transplanted in the spring. The thick 
leaves, as well as the soft bulb, are used. Leeks 
may be stored green, with the roots in moist earth, 
in a cool cellar. 

IMusHROOM. — The growing of mushrooms in 
cellars, sheds, etc., is sometimes called a fad, but — 
tmlike ginseng culture — it has substantial American 



146 



EIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



market possibilities. There is a steadily-growing de- 
mand for good, fresh mushrooms, and I believe that 
expert growers, properly equipped, can make money 
in the business. But, like everything else that 
promises so well, it "isn^t so easy as it looks." 
Amateurs should not expect to pick up many dollars 
until they have acquired the necessary experience 
and *'knack." The culture of mushrooms is not, 
strictly speaking, within the scope of a garden book, 
and therefore I have not room to go into details ; 
but any reader who is interested in the subject can 
get full information by writing to the U. S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, and asking 
for free Farmers' Bulletin No. 204. 

Mustard. — Some people grow this for salads. 
The seeds are often used for flavoring pickles, etc. 
For salads, sow thickly in shallow drills, about a 
foot apart, in April. Successive sowings may be 
made every week or two. To grow seed, thin out 
to four inches apart when two inches high. 

Okra. — More grown in the South than in the 
North. Often called ''Gumbo." The dwarf varieties 
are best for northern gardeners. This vegetable is 
extensively grown for its green pods, which are used 
in soups, stews, etc., to which they impart a rich 
flavor, and are considered nutritious. Sow the seed 
thickly in rich, warm ground about the last of May 
(in the North), in drills three feet apart, one inch 
deep ; thin to one foot apart. 

Parsley. — A hardy biennial plant much used for 
garnishing and seasoning soups, meats, etc. Sow 
thickly early in April in rows one foot apart and one- 
half inch deep; thin out the plants to stand six inches 
apart in the rows. The seed germinates very slowly 
and often fails to come up in dry weather. To as- 



MISCELLANEOUS 



sist its coming up quicker, soak the seed. For win- 
ter use protect in a coldframe or in a light cellar. 

Spinach. — For spring and summer use in the 
Xorth, sow the seed either broadcast, or in drills one 
foot apart and one inch deep, as early as the ground 
can be worked, and every two weeks for a succession. 
For winter and early spring use, sow in September 
in well-manured ground ; cover with straw or leaves 
on the approach of severe weather. The richer the 
ground, the more succulent w^ill be the leaves. For 
wintering, sow only the hardy, prickly variety. Long- 
standing and Victoria are good kinds for summer 
use. (The large New Zealand variety should be 
sown in hills 3x3 feet apart, four seeds to a hill.) 

Cardoon, chervil, chicory, chives, dandelion, gar- 
lic, sorrel, etc., are listed in seedsmen's catalogs, 
but are so seldom grown in American gardens that 
detailed information about them seems unnecessary 
here. 



ENTRANCE TO A GARDEN. KOTE THE NEATLY-CLIPPED PRIVET 
HEDGES AND SMALL EVERGREENS, AND THE ARCH OF 
CRIMSON RAMBLER ROSES 



Chapter XVI 



THE FLOWER GARDEN 

The man zvho cheerfully sets the spade zi'Jiere Jiis zi'ife 
directs, and lends Jiiniseif ■zcillingly to her desires in the 
flozcer gardoi. has in hi)n tlie z'ital elements of good citiizen- 
ship and is a safe man to trust. — Tim. 

II, for the return of the old- 
fashioned flower garden ! Years 
ago flowers were grown in bor- 
ders rather than in beds — box- 
edged borders on each side of 
a rear walk, or alongside a 
fence or a wall or a building, 
filled with a profusion of old- 
time favorites growing in a de- 
lightfully informal mass of color 
and variety. In those days the nightmare "beds" 
(dug out of the lawn in round or fanciful shapes) 
filled with geraniums or foliage plants (set straight 
and exactly even all around), were not common. 

George H. EUwanger, in The Garden's Story, 
touches a tender spot in my heart when he says : 

"One passes many neglected farm-gardens along 
the road. Here, an old locust and mock-orange 
have been allowed to sprout at will : the blue iris 
has crept outside the fence, with clumps of double 
daffodils turned over by the plow and flung on to 
the roadside. There is a jungle of stunted quinces 
and blighted pear trees. The spreading myrtle 
patch has usurped the place of what was once a 
lawn ; tall thistles, hog-weed, pig-weed and burdocks 




150 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



make and scatter seed year after year ; an -army of 
weeds has overrun the path — the plantain, purslane, 
goose-grass, dandelion, joint-weed and mallow; and 
a green goose-pond, over which are hovering yellow 
butterflies, exhales its miasma in the sun. Once the 
garden was beautiful, famous for its old-fashioned 
flowers, and many were the slips the neighbors ob- 
tained from its floral stores. The grain-fields and 
fat pastures corresponded with the luxuriance within. 
But the farm changed hands on the death of the 
owner, and the new owners cared little for the 
flowers." 

In the hope that my readers may be induced to 
reclaim the old gardens or start new ones along the 
old lines, I will give a condensed and partial list of 
the plants, etc., that Harriet and I (and some of the 
friends whom we've consulted) think should be 
included in an old-fashioned flower border : 

Hardy Perennial Plants and Bulbs 

Anemone Japonica (also called Japanese anem- 
one) : Grows two or three feet high. Blooms from 
August until frost. Needs slight protection in win- 
ter in extreme North. White or pink varieties may 
be had. 

Bachelor's Buttons (sometimes called "double 
buttercup") : Grows about a foot and a half high, 
and produces double yellow flowers in May and June. 
Prefers wet soil. 

Bergamot : Aromatic and sweet-scented; pro- 
duces a profusion of showy bloom from July until 
frost. Grows about two feet high. White, pink, 
purple or scarlet varieties. 

Bleeding-heart (dicentra) : An old-time favor- 
ite. Bears heart-shaped flowers in graceful, droop- 



THE FLOWER GARDEN 



ing, reddish racemes, in April, ]\Iay and June. Fern- 
like foliage about two feet high. 

Campanula (Canterbury bells ; bellflower) : About 
two feet high. Attractive blue or white flowers in 
early summer. Calycanthema (cup-and-saucer) is a 
favorite variety. 

Candytuft (evergreen or hardy candytuft) : A 
low-growing plant suitable for the foreground of 
borders. White flowers in early spring. 

Cardinal Flower (lobelia cardinalis) : Blooms 
in spikes of brilliant cardinal-red, in August. Plants 
about one and a half feet high. 

Chrysanthemum, Hardy: Grows about two feet 
high. Several varieties and colors. Flowers in late 
summer and until frost. 

Columbine : Height, one to three feet — accord- 
ing to variety. White, red, yellow, etc. April-June ; 
some varieties later. Succeeds in almost any soil. 

Coreopsis : Blooms June-September. Height 
about one and a half feet. Lanceolata grandiflora is 
a popular variety. Yellow. 

Crocus : Fine for early-spring bloom. Plant 
the bulbs about October first in the North, in fine, 
rich, deep, well-drained soil. IMulch with a little 
strawy manure, or leaves, or straw alone. Remove 
mulch in early spring. Divide and transplant the 
bulbs every three or four years. Plant crocus bulbs 
about three inches deep; about four inches apart, 
irregularly — I do not fancy things too straight in the 
flower border. 

Daffodils, Jonquils and Poet's Narcissus are 
planted and divided the same as crocuses ; but set 
them about an inch deeper and about two inches 
farther apart. 

Day Lily : The best yellow variety is Heniero- 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



callis flava. Grows about two feet high. Blooms in 
June. 

Ferns : A few, here and there, help the general 
effect. 

Flag (blue flag; iris) : Since the blue flag of 
our grandmothers' time, the iris has been improved 
and new kinds introduced until now there is a nice 
list of beauties of different tints and colors — the 
Japanese iris, the German iris, etc. And varieties 
may be had which bloom at different times, prolong- 
ing the season from May to July. Buy one or more 
"clumps," of seedsmen, set them out in the fall, 
mulch through the winter, and ''watch 'em grow and 
spread." If they eventually crowd out of bounds, 
cut off the outer parts of the clumps with a spade, 
and set the detached slices of roots elsewhere. 

Forget-me-not : A low-growing plant. Blue 
flowers. April-May. 

Foxglove : Various varieties and colors. June- 
July. Plants about two and one-half feet high. 

Funkia (plantain lily) : Foliage and flowers 
both attractive. Many varieties and colors. Blooms 
July-August. Plants about a foot and a half high. 

Grasses : Clumps of the various ornamental 
grasses might well be included in the back corners 
of the border. Their leaves are almost as striking 
as some flowers. 

Harebell (bluebells of Scotland) : A dwarf- 
growing species of campanula ; only about a foot 
high. 

Hibiscus (marshmallow) : Grows about five 
feet high. Blooms August-September. Large, 
showy, pink flowers. (Meehan's Alallow Marvel is 
a recent introduction of distinct and superior merit. 
The plants grow as high as a man and I never saw 



THE FLOWER GARDEN 



more gorgeous pink, red, white, etc., flowers. Be 
sure to plant some of these.) 

Hollyhock : A general favorite. Single or 
double varieties. Height about six feet. Various 
colors. June-August. They like a deep, rich soil, 
and appreciate a mulch-protection in the winter. A 
fungous disease often attacks them, but early spray- 
ings with the Bordeaux mixture should prevent it. 

Hyacinth : Fine for early spring bloom. Various 
colors. Plant and treat the bulbs the same as advised 
for daffodils, but set them an inch deeper. 

Jacob's Ladder : Handsome foliage and spikes of 
blue flowers. June- July. Grows about a foot high. 

Larkspur: Great spikes of bloom (various 
colors) produced continuously from June until late 
summer. The tall kinds attain a height of five feet 
or more; dwarf varieties about two feet. 

Lily : I could write a chapter about these, but, 
alas ! space forbids. Among the many excellent 
varieties I can mention 
the following : Lilium 
candidum — white, blooms 
in June, often grows six 
feet high, sometimes 
called ''annunciation lily" ; 
lilium auratum, about three 
feet high, blooms July- 
August, also called "gold- 
banded lily of Japan" ; 
lilium longiflorum, or . 

° . ' LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY— A GREAT 

trumpet lily, white, two favorite of Harriet's 

and one-half feet high, 

June ; lilium tigrinum splendens, or ''tiger lily," 
spotted orange color, four feet high, August ; lily- 
of-the-valley is last but not least — a home is incom- 




154 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



plete without a clump of these lowly little beau- 
ties. Plant lily bulbs in early October the same as 
advised for crocus and other hardy bulbs, but be 
sure to spade up the soil deeply; cover about six 
inches deep, space about fifteen inches apart, and 
apply a winter mulch. Lily-of-the-valley "pips" need 
not be covered deeper than about three inches. 
Divide and transplant lilies every three or four years. 

Monk's-hood : Likes a shady place. Blooms 
August-September. The old variety has a blue flower 
and grows to a height of about three feet. 

Myrtle : A well-known evergreen trailing plant 
with blue flowers in spring. Does well almost any- 
where and spreads rapidly. 

Pseony : There are two distinct types — the ordi- 
nary herbaceous paeony and the ''tree" pseony. Both 
types come in a variety of colors — pink, v/hite, red, 
etc., — and the blooming time may be greatly extended 
by getting early and late kinds. Set the plants in 
the fall in deep, rich, well-drained soil ; space at 
least two and one-half feet apart (farther for tree 
pseonies) ; mulch in winter. 

Passion Flower : A trailing blue flower that 
blooms July-September. 

Phlox, Hardy : Assorted colors and heights, ac- 
cording to variety. Phloxes are among the very 
showiest and most valuable of all hardy plants, and 
by growing a complete collection they can be had 
in bloom from early June until late fall. The old 
lilac and purple-colored varieties have given way to 
the beautiful hybrid sorts of handsome and brilliant 
shades of pink, red, salmon, rose, in distinct colors. 
They form large clumps and should be in every 
garden, as they succeed in almost any position with 
little care. 



THE FLOWER GARDEN 



Pink : Delightful low-growing flowers. Who 
doesn't remember the "moss" or "mountain" or 
"clove" pink of his boyhood days ? Then there is 
the newer white variety called Her Majesty. 

Poppy : Many people do not know that the Ice- 
land and the Oriental varieties are hardy perennials, 
and quite unlike the Shirley or annual kinds. Sow 
the seed in the fall in finely prepared ground, mulch 
lightly, remove the mulch in the spring — and await 
developments, says Harriet. 

Pyrethrum : Daisy-like flowers of various colors. 
Two feet. 

Rudbeckia : The variety called Golden Glow is 
the most popular now^adays (and it is indeed a glow 
of yellow for sometime in the summer). Grows six 
feet high. Be sure to have some. 

Snowdrop (anemone or windflower) : Plant the 
same as crocus bulbs. 

Spiderwort : An old favorite. Flowers violet- 
blue. June-August. About two feet in height. There 
is a white variety which is not so well known. 

Starworts (hardy aster or IMichaelmas daisy) : 
Desirable additions to the garden, because the differ- 
ent varieties bloom late when few hardy plants are 
in flower. Various colors and heights. 

Sunflower : Plant a few of the hardy, perennial 
kinds, at the back of the border. Try ]\Iultiflorus, 
Maximus, Alajor and Soleil d' Or. 

Sweet-william : A great favorite. About a foot 
high. Various colors. ]\Iay-June. 

Tulip : Plant and treat the same as daffodils. 
It is not necessary to take up the bulbs every year, 
although an occasional dividing and transplanting 
is desirable. After the flowers and leaves die down, 
remove them in early summer and — if you wnsh — stir 



156 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



the soil lightly and sow flower seed of some kind, 
so that the ground may be occupied without disturb- 
ing the bulbs beneath. 

Violet, Sweet : Partial shade is acceptable. Be 
sure to save a place for these blue beauties. (Nowa- 
days some folks make money by growing them under 
glass in frames or greenhouses, and selling the 
product in the larger towns and cities ; the California 
variety is also largely grown.) 

Yucca (Spanish bayonet or Adam's needle) : 
An evergreen plant somewhat resembling a century 
plant. Flowers borne in spikes on tall flower-stalks. 
June-July. 

General Remarks and Cultural Hints. — Nu- 
merous additions might be made to the foregoing list, 
but the varieties mentioned will serve as an excellent 
beginning and the flower-lover can try other kinds 
from time to time. (There's always room for ''one 
more" in an informal border, says Martha.) In 
regard to planting and culture, many of the varie- 
ties may be grown from seed in seedbeds outdoors 
or in window-boxes indoors, and transplanted to the 
border when ready ; or they may be sown in their 
permanent places and thinned out when well up. Or 
plants or bulbs may be purchased of seedsmen, thus 
saving time and bother. Plants all ready to set are 
sold very cheap. Distances apart need not be exactly 
considered, for straight rows are to be avoided in 
the border ; simply have the plants so they do not 
unduly crowd each other, and thin them out from 
time to time as their growth may require. Have the 
low-growing kinds toward the front edge, the me- 
dium growers in the middle, and the tall varieties at 
the rear. The flower colors should be arranged in a 
pleasing way — as if you were painting a picture or 



THE FLOWER GARDEN 



composing a harmony. Avoid glaring contrasts, 
abrupt, straight divisions, and jarring combinations; 
you can not expect to get everything right at first, 
but some plants can be reset if necessary until the 
desired effect is secured (even large plants can be 
safely moved in late fall). Keep out weeds, keep 
the soil loose and mellow; but when the plants have 
attained sufficient size to cover and shade the ground, 
few weeds will grow and only an occasional hoeing 
or weeding will be necessary. Late each fall apply 
a mulch of strawy 
manure and a light 
sprinkle of bone meal ; 
remove the coarser 
parts of the mulch in 
the early spring and 
carefully loosen up the 
surface soil with a 
hoe and a narrow 
eight-tooth rake. 

Prepare the border 
for planting by spading 

it deeply (a foot at least) and working in a quantity 
of well-rotted manure and some bone meal. Most of 
the seeds can best be sown in spring as soon as the 
ground is warm and dry enough — say late April or 
early May in the North; a few of them (poppies, for 
instance) can best be sown in late fall and mulched. 
In regard to buying and setting out plants, J. T. 
Lovett says : "Some persons prefer autumn planting 
and others claim spring to be the better season. As 
a matter of fact, neither spring nor fall is to be pre- 
ferred for the entire list of varieties. Beyond ques- 
tion pseony, phlox, dicentra, day lily, etc., make the 
best growth when planted in autumn ; while Japanese 




REMOVE THE MULCH IN EARLY SPRING 
AND CAREFULLY LOOSEN UP 
THE TOP SOIL 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



anemone, foxglove, Canterbury bells, hollyhock, sweet- 
william and some others frequently perish the first 
winter if planted in the fall — though they are per- 
fectly hardy after they become well established in 
their new homes." 

The heights of the various plants and the time 
of flowering, as given, are of course only approxi- 
mate — much depends upon climate, soil and season, 
and therefore exact statements are impossible. One 
of the advantages of having a border planted only 
to hardy perennials, is that it need be planted but 
once ; thus the annual ''fuss" with seeds, and the un- 
certainty, is avoided. 

Flowering Shrubs. — Somewhere in the garden 
there should be at least a few of the hardy shrubs, 
to supplement the perennial plants already mentioned. 
They may be set along the back line of the flower 
border ; or may be set in a border or bed by them- 
selves, putting the tall-growing kinds to the rear (or 
center) and the lower kinds in front. (Distances 
apart vary from two to four or Ave or six feet, ac- 
cording to variety.) Here is a short suggestive list 
of shrubs: Althea (high-growing, late-blooming); 
azalea (hardy kinds, low, early) ; barberry (Thun- 
bergi is best-known variety, low, red berries) ; deut- 
zia (both dwarf and tall-growing kinds,- June) ; for- 
sythia (golden flowers very early, medium height) ; 
hydrangea paniculata grandiflora (splendid late 
bloomer, plant in masses, prune new wood closely 
each year, attains good size in time) ; lilac (high, 
early, several varieties) ; rhododendron (prefers 
shade, different sizes and colors, not hardy too far 
north, requires no pruning) ; snowball (an old-time 
favorite, high, early) ; spirea (various kinds, heights 
and colors — plant several) ; sweet-scented shrub 



THE FLOWER GARDEN 



(a favorite of our grandmothers', fragrant choco- 
late-colored flowers) ; syringa or mock-orange (high, 
early) ; weigela (mid-season or early summer, high). 

Pruning and care of shrubs : Keep the surface 
of the ground loose and mellow. Mulch with strawy 
manure in fall. Prune early-blooming shrubs as 
soon as bloom has ceased; prune late bloomers early 
the following spring. Little if any pruning is needed 
the first few years, but the shrubs should be well 
*'cut back" at time of setting. There is no particular 
science about pruning shrubs, other than the points 
already mentioned ; simply thin out, trim up or cut 
back, as taste or circumstances may require. 

Roses. — No garden is quite complete without a 
rose bed. I have not space to mention the many 
excellent varieties here, but be sure to plant some 
of the hybrid perpetuals (Baroness Rothschild, pink; 
Captain Hayward, carmine ; General Jacqueminot, 
crimson ; ]\Iargaret Dickson, white ; IMarshall P. 
Wilder, carmine ; Mrs. John Laing, pink ; Paul Ney- 
ron, deep rose color ; Ulrich Brunner, cherry red, 
are among the most satisfactory kinds). Hybrid 
perpetuals are quite hardy nearly everywhere, but a 
heavy mulch of leaves or straw through the winter 
is always helpful. Although called ''perpetuals," they 
are not really perpetual bloomers ; but many of them 
will produce a fair second-crop of flowers in the 
autumn. 

The hybrid-tea roses are more tender, but are 
all-season bloomers if well cared for. In the North, 
bend the branches down to the ground and stake 
them there in late autumn and apply stable manure, 
and on top of that a thick covering of straw or 
leaves, held securely against winds by wire chicken- 
netting laid flat and fastened along the edges with 



i6o 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



stakes. Remove the covering about May ist. Good 
varieties are: Caroline Testout, bright rose color; 
Gruss an Teplitz, scarlet ; Kaiserin Augusta Victoria, 
creamy white ; Killarney, one of the most beautiful 
pink roses in existence ; La France, silvery pink, 
very attractive. 

Tea roses are very free-flowering, but are almost 
too tender for growing outdoors in the North, even 
if protected with straw. In the greenhouse or in the 
South, they are fine. 

Then there are those old favorites, the moss 
roses and the sweetbriars. The Rugosa roses, of 
Japanese origin, are hardy and interesting; the seed- 
pods are quite ornamental. Wichuriana is a low- 
trailing species producing white flowers in July after 
the June roses are through blooming (Dorothy Per- 
kins is of the same species, but the flowers are pink). 
The dwarf Polyantha roses bear pleasing clusters of 
dainty small flowers. 

Pruning, culture and rose-bugs : Cut off the 
upper one-third of each main shoot in the spring; 
cut out all dead or diseased wood at any time ; ever- 
blooming roses may be cut back again after the June 
flowering, which induces further bloom. Keep the 
ground well stirred all through the growing season ; 
spade deeply before planting; set plants about two 
feet apart (more or less according to variety) ; re- 
member that roses like a very rich clay-loam soil 
with sufficient moisture. Rose-bugs are the worst 
pest, generally, and no very good remedies are known. 
Cover the bushes with mosquito-netting, or knock 
the bugs into a pan of kerosene twice a day, or spray 
with arsenate of lead as suggested in Chapter V. 
(For other enemies, see general remarks and hints on 
pages i66 and 167.) 



THE FLOWER GARDEN 



l6l 



Climbing Vines. — These as a rule do not belong 
in the border, but should find a place somewhere in 
or near the garden — on porch, house, wall, lattice 
screen, or climbing upon a dead tree-trunk, post or 
fence. Crimson Rambler, Prairie Queen, Baltimore 
Belle, etc., are hardy climbing roses that succeed al- 
most everywhere (give slight protection the first 
two years in extreme northern localities, by laying 
the vines down and covering during the winter ; older 
vines seem quite 



hardy ; no protection 
necessary at any 
time in Philadelphia). 
Boston ivy, Virginia 
creeper, English ivy, 
trumpet flower, honey- 
suckles of various 
kinds, wistaria and 




clematis are all good 



atis paniculata and 

clematis Jackmani are especially attractive. Little if 
any pruning is necessary, except to cut out dead or 
diseased wood at any time, and to remove surplus 
or not-wanted growth in the spring. Cultivate a circle 
of ground around the roots, and mulch with stable 
manure. English ivy is not hardy in the extreme 
Xorth, but the others will do well nearly everywhere 
if laid down and protected the first two years. 

Annual Plants and Vines. — Planting flower 
seed every year is a bother, but flower lovers can 
not quite get along without some of their favorite 
one-season bloomers. I can only mention a few of 
the best-known : 



in their proper places. 
The flowers of clem- 



ENTRANCE TO A LONG ISLAND GAR- 
DEN. ARBOR COVERED WITH CLEM- 
ATIS PANICULATA, ETC. 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



Aster : The various annual varieties permit of 
a blooming season from July until frost. Sow seed 
in window boxes in early spring and transplant in 
May ; or sow the earlier kinds outdoors in late 
April. 

Canna : Not easy to grow from seed (see hints 
under Moonflower). Better buy roots of a seeds- 
man. Set in rich, moist soil about fifteen inches 
apart May 15th, or when danger of frost is over. 
In the fall after a heavy frost, cut off tops near the 
ground ; later, before ground freezes, dig roots, dry 
them well in the sun, and store in a cool cellar. The 
roots need dividing every year or so. 

Dahlia : May be grown from seed, but most 
people prefer to buy roots of a seedsman and plant 
out about May 15th, or when the weather is warm 
and settled. Earlier bloom may be secured by start- 
ing the roots in boxes in the house three weeks ahead 
of outdoor planting time. Tie the plants to stakes, 
for support. Have the ground rich. When frost 
threatens in the fall, cover the plants with cloths or 
papers at night and thus prolong the blooming sea- 
son until late. After frost has blackened the vines, 
cut them off near the ground. Dig the roots on a 
sunny daj^ dry them well, and store in a cool cellar. 
The roots may be divided from time to time, and the 
surplus used or sold. (Divide with a sharp knife; 
see that a part of old stem, with a bud, is attached 
to each tuber.) 

Gladiolus : Plant the bulbs in late April about 
three inches deep and six inches apart. The flower 
stalks often need some support. Successive plantings 
may be made until July ist, if a long season of bloom 
is desired. After frost comes, dig the bulbs, and 
when well dried in the sun cut off each stalk about 



THE FLOWER GARDEN 



six inches above the bulb ; store in a dry, frost- 
proof place. The bulbs increase rapidly each year. 

]^Iarigold : The African A'arieties grow about 
two feet high and bear large yellow or orange-col- 
ored flowers : the French kinds are more dwarf in 
habit, usually with striped colors. Raise plants in- 
doors or in frames in early spring and transplant to 
open ground in I\Iay ; or sow seed outdoors in late 
April. 

]\Ioonflower : Large white flowers opening in 
the evening. A strong climber. Best to start seeds 
in the house in ]\Iarch and transplant in IMay, or 
buy plants of a seedsman. The seeds germinate 
slowly and uncertainly. File or cut a small notch 
through the hard coat or shell of each seed, keeping 
away from the germinating point, and the seeds will 
sprout more quickly. (This hint also applies to 
canna or other large hard seeds.) 

]\Iorning-glory : A climbing favorite. Sow as 
early as possible in the spring, and give the vines 
something to run on. Or sow the seed in well-pre- 
pared ground in the fall and mulch through the win- 
ter. The Imperial Japanese kinds are larger and 
finer colored. 

Nasturtium : There are dwarf varieties and tall 
or climbing kinds. They like a well-drained, sunny 
place, and will blossom until frost comes. Usually 
sown outdoors in late April, but may be started 
earlier in the house and transplanted outside in May. 

Pansy : Does well in partial shade or in a 
sunny situation. For very early spring flowering the 
seed may be sown in coldframes in autumn; or in 
the open ground, plants well protected with straw or 
leaves through the winter ; or sow seed indoors in 
]vlarch and transplant to the open ground in April. 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



For summer blooming, sow seed outdoors in April. 
Pick the flowers often, so that none will go to seed. 
Seed production soon stops bloom. 

Pea, Sweet : Likes a deep, heavy loam. Sow 
in early spring in drills about Ave inches deep ; cover 
only about three inches deep at first, filling in the 
remaining three inches when the plants are just 
coming through the first covering. May also be 
sown in fall and mulched. Support the vines on 
wire-netting, brush, etc. Pick the flowers often ; 
allow none to go to seed — this is important if you 
want a long blooming season. In regard to insects 
and fungi, consult Chapter VIII. 

Petunia : The double petunias are handsome, 
but the single kinds are entirely satisfactory. I 
usually sow the seed outdoors in late April and thin 
the plants to about ten inches apart ; however, earlier 
bloom may be had by starting the plants in window 
boxes indoors and transplanting them in May. 

Phlox Drummondi : This is one of Harriet's 
favorite annuals. She likes to have a solid mass of 
it somewhere, composed of separate white, crimson, 
pink and yellow kinds ; this gives a better effect than 
the ordinary mixtures sold. (The same rule holds 
true with sweet peas and some other flowers ; buy 
and plant each color by itself and the result is more 
pleasing.) Grow the same as petunias. 

Tuberose : Cut away the dead roots and set the 
bulbs in deep, rich soil in late May or when all dan- 
ger of frost is over. Put about an inch of soil over 
the tops of the bulbs. Just before frost in the fall, 
dig up the bulbs and cut off the tops so as to leave 
about two inches of stem attached to each bulb. 
Place in shallow boxes and dry for a week in the 
sun, protecting on cool nights ; then store away in a 



THE FLOWER GARDEN 



165 



dry, frost-proof place until the following spring. 
The little new bulbs or "pips" which grow on the 
older bulbs should be detached and planted sepa- 
rately; they will bloom the second year. 

Verbena : For best results, sow seed in window 
boxes or hotbeds in early spring and transplant to 
the open ground in May. 

Zinnia : Grown in the same manner as petunias. 

Then there are a host of other annuals — candy- 
tuft, cosmos, gillyflower or stock, lady-slipper, mig- 
nonette, portulaca, Shirley and California poppies, 
sweet alyssum, etc., etc., — which I have not room to 
touch upon here. But they are nearly all of easy 
culture and the grower needs no special knowledge. 

As for the many kinds of so-called "house 
plants" that are often moved in pots to the garden 
in summer time, I can only say : Beware of setting 
them out too early ; toughen them first by letting 
them stand on a sheltered porch for a few days, 
protecting them with newspapers or cloths during 
cold nights. Boston ferns and other house ferns 
are improved by sinking the pots to the brim in the 
ground in a place outdoors sheltered from hard 
winds and partially or wholly shaded ; thus treated 
(and occasionally sprinkled with water) they will 
"renew their beauty" for another winter. 

Insect and Fungous Enemies. — Only a few 
general remarks are possible here. A careful study 
of Chapter V should help the flower grower to decide 
upon a remedy for almost any trouble. Does the 
insect eat? Then arsenate of lead, hellebore, etc., 
will kill it. Or, if it does not eat foliage or flowers, 
mustn't it suck the juices from leaf or branch by 
inserting its beak inside where stomach poisons can 
not go? Then one of the contact poisons or lice 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



remedies is the proper thing to use. Is it a fungous 
trouble not caused by any insect? Then half-strength 
Bordeaux is probably best ; or perhaps sulphur for 
mildew. Or if both insects and fungi are at work, 
try a combination of arsenate of lead and half- 
strength Bordeaux. 

Some of the shrubs— notably the lilac — are very 
subject to a scale pest called the oyster-shell bark- 
louse. The scales can be plainly seen, without the 
aid of a glass, on the branches — brown in color and 
shaped something like an elongated oyster-shell. 
Remedy : Spray with the whale-oil soap solution 
about the middle of May. There is also a scurfy 
scale which looks like a tiny, oblong flake of cotton. 
Use same remedy as for oyster-shell scale. Last, but 
most dangerous, is the San Jose scale. This is a 
round, dark scale with a central dot or nipple, and 
is not easy to see without the aid of a magnifying 
glass. It attacks and kills many shrubs, osage orange 
hedges, trees, etc. The lime-sulphur mixture is the 
standard remedy for San Jose. Seedsmen sell it by 
the quart or gallon, ready-mixed. Or if you have 
many shrubs or trees affected, write to your state 
experiment station or to the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture, Washington, D. C, and ask for bulletins 
about making and spraying the lime-sulphur mixture. 
The time to use it is after the leaves are off — in the 
late fall or very early spring. 

If the flower garden has a garden hose and water 
under pressure, most insects can be controlled by 
throwing the water forcibly all over the plants every 
day or so (but do not do this when the hot sun is 
shining on them). This knocks off nearly all kinds 
of bugs, lice, etc. Cnot scale insects), and they soon 
get discouraged and disappear. 



Chapter XVII 



SMALL FRUITS 




The berry garden is just the place 
JVJierc summer lends peculiar grace. 
JJliaf possibilities niay lie 
In things drazcn from its rich supply! 

t FIRST, let lis talk about strawberries. 
April is the best month in the Xorth 
to set the plants. Select almost any 
kind of good, well-drained land on 
which some hoed crop was grown last 
season. The soil should be deeply 
plowed, enriched with manure and fer- 
tilizers and harrowed until line and 
mellow. Dig or buy plants from beds 
set last season which have not yet 
fruited, so as not to get "little potato*' 
runners from old, worn-out plants. Select well- 
tested varieties that do well in your climate and soil, 
and which are liked in your local markets. For horse 
cultivation many growers set the plants in rows 
about four feet apart, and about eighteen inches apart 
in the row (7,260 plants to the acre). Spread the 
roots out well and deep : tread the soil lirmly about 
each plant : see that the crown of plant is level with 
ground, and uncovered but not too high : pick off 
all blossoms, runners, old and dead leaves, and keep 
blossoms and fruit off during the first season. When 
setting plants, avoid drying the roots by exposure 
to sun or wind, and reject all small, feeble, or old 
plants with dark-looking roots. Read Chapter III 



BIGGLE GARDEN BCOK 



for general planting hints. Before setting, many 
growers practise shearing or cutting about one-third 
off the ends of all roots. Remember that strawberry 
plants are either pistillate (imperfect blossom.s) or 
staminate (perfect). Most growers insure good fer- 
tilization of blossoms (without which the pistillate 
varieties can not produce fruit) by setting one row of 
a perfect-blossom variety, two rows of imperfect, 
then another row of perfect — and so on. As soon 
as the field is all planted, start the cultivator and 
loosen up the trodden soil. Hoe and cultivate the 
plants often but shallow. Arrange the runners by 
hand, spacing them properly and securing each one 
in place with a little soil or a small stone. When 
enough runners have rooted, cut off the surplus ones 
the same as if they were weeds. Aim to have the 
final row not more than eighteen inches wide, with 
plants spaced (irregularly) six to eight inches apart. 
Continue to hoe and cultivate until hard frosts come 
in the fall : then, when the soil is zcell frozen, mulch 
the rows or the entire field with clean straw, marsh 
hay, etc. In late March or early April, if the mulch 
on the strawberry bed is heavy and packed down, 
loosen it up a little and rake part of it into the 
aisles between the rows. I do not believe that it is 
best, usually, to cultivate or hoe the bed in the spring; 
simply pull up weeds that push through the mulch. 
If you want to keep the bed another year, says a 
writer in Farm Journal, after fruiting timiC mow off 
the plant leaves and tops, let them dry a day or so, 
and then set fire to dry leaves and mulch and burn 
it off. Choose a dry, windy day for this job, so that 
the fire will run quickly along the rows. As soon 
as the new growth starts, narrow down the rows 
by plowing one furrow away from each side, and 



SMALL FRUITS 



169 



then cultivate the soil back into place. Then treat 
the bed the same as the first year. When it has 
borne two crops, better plow it under. 

The foregoing well-known method is what is 
called the ''narrow matted row" system. Of course 
in a small garden, for hoe cultivation only, the rows 
might be closer together — say three feet and a half 
apart. 

Sometimes the "wide matted row" method is 
used — allowing the plant row to become two or 
three feet wide. Then, last but not least, there's the 
''hill system" of culture — setting the plants about fif- 
teen inches apart in rows about three feet apart, 
for horse cultivation, or in two-foot rows for hoe 
work only. Blossoms are kept off and all runners 
are promptly and regularly cut off all through the 
growing season, and the plants, not being exhausted 
by runner, blossom or fruit bearing, put all their 
strength into themselves and grow big, sturdy and 
bushy. Apply a mulch when the ground freezes, 
and look for a fine crop of extra-fancy berries the 
following June. This method requires high culture 
and fertilization to produce satisfactory results. Oc- 
casional applications of nitrate of soda the first sea- 
son, and again the following spring after growth 
starts, are helpful. (Xitrate of soda is useful in 
any system of strawberry growing. See Chapter 
IV.) 

Some folks advocate setting straw^berries in 
August or early September. I prefer spring-set beds, 
but if you must set in the fall, use pot-grown plants 
and begin to prepare the ground a few weeks ahead 
of planting time. Plow it early so that it will have 
a chance to settle. Harrow or rake it often, to keep 
down weeds and conserve moisture. Then the bed 



SMALL FRUITS 



will be in fine shape to receive the plants. Pot- 
grown plants can be had of most nurserymen ; or 
you can easily raise them yourself by buying a num- 
l3er of tiny pots, filling them with earth, sinking them 
alongside a new strawberry bed, and causing a run- 
ner to take root in each pot. 

Strawberry varieties : There are hundreds of 
them. Every locality has its favorites. New kinds 
are constantly being introduced, and most old kinds 
sooner or later drop out of sight. I have only space 
to mention a few well-tested varieties which are 
general favorites in many places at the time of this 
writing ("P" means pistillate or imperfect blossoms, 
"S" means staminate or perfect blossoms) : Bubach 
(P), Haverland (P), Clyde (S), Marshall (S), 
Warfield (P), Wm. Belt (S), Lovett (S), Nick 
Ohmer (S), Glen Mary (S), New York (S), Sena- 
tor Dunlap (S), Klondike (S), Rough Rider (S), 
etc., etc. If you want extra early berries, regardless 
of size, plant Michel's Early (S), Tennessee Pro- 
lific (S), etc. Eor very late kinds, plant Gandy (S), 
Parker Earle (S), Brandywine (S), etc. 

Picking and marketing : Do not pick straw- 
berries when they are wet ; when picked, hurry them 
to a cool place out 
of the sun ; do not 
bruise; pick every 
ripe berry every day 
or two ; do not j erk 
the berries off — nip 
them off at the stem; 
throw out over-ripe 
or under-ripe speci- 

j^pj,g T Hale PICK BERRIES FOR SHIPMENT 

' WHEN THEY ARE WET, AND BE 

says : For distant careful not to bruise 




1/2 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



market, try to pick in the evening or in the morning 
after the dew is off the grass and yet before it is too 
warm. If picking must be done all through the heat 
of the day, plan some way to cool the berries. Pick- 
ers of mature years are best ; and as a rule girls are 
better than boys. Have a superintendent for every 
ten or twelve pickers, to assign the rows, inspect the 
picking, etc. Each picker should be numbered and 
have a picking stand or carrier with like number 
to hold four, six or eight quarts. Sort the berries 
as picked into two grades, and always use new, clean 
baskets made of the whitest wood possible. Fill 
rounding full with fruit of uniform quality all the 
way through. After berries are picked keep away 
from the air as much as possible. Fruit, if dry 
cooled, will keep much longer and keep fresher if 
kept in tight crates. Ventilation in crates and bas- 
kets does more harm than good." In many parts of 
the East the 32-quart crate is the favorite shipping 
package ; in Michigan and some other states, the 16- 
quart gift-crate is popular (this kind is shown in the 
packing-shed illustration in this chapter). 

Strawberry pests : Leaf-spot, blight, rust and 
mildew can all be largely controlled by early spray- 
ings with the Bordeaux mixture. Rotation of crops 
and the annual ''burning over" of each bed after it 
has fruited, will usually control the crown-borer, the 
leaf-roller, and similar insects ; also, put some arsen- 
ate of lead in the Bordeaux mixture and use the 
combined spray until little green berries begin to 
form, then stop, and resume spraying after the fruit- 
ing season is over. White grubs (larvae of May 
beetles or "June bugs" as they are sometimes called) 
often attack the roots below ground and the plant 
withers and dies ; there are no good remedies, but 



SMALL FRUITS 



1/3 



fall-plowing and regular cultivation are preventives ; 
never plant strawberries on ground which has been 
in sod within two or three years and you'll have little 
trouble with white grubs. 

Raspberries and Blackberries. — To get a start, 
buy plants of a nurseryman; or propagate from an 
old patch, as follows : Xew plants of the red rasp- 
berry and blackberry may be obtained by digging the 
larger vigorous roots and cutting in pieces two or 
three inches in length, 
according to their size ; 
the smaller the root 
the longer it should be 
cut. Cut the roots in 
the fall and store in 
boxes of sand placed in a 
dry, cool cellar until 
spring. As soon as the 
ground can be properly 
prepared, scatter the root 
pieces thinly in furrows 
and cover with two 
inches of light, loamy 
soil. Choose a moist, par- 
tially shaded situation, 
keep clean and free from 
weeds, and by fall you 
will have a good supply of strong, healthy plants 
for early spring setting (for the North I favor 
spring setting). An easier way, is to dig suckers 
or sprouts that come up along or between the rows, 
being sure to secure with each sprout a short por- 
tion of the cross root from which it grew ; dig 
and set these in permanent rows in the early spring. 
(Much of this digging, however, hurts a patch.) 




GET BKRRIES OUT OF THE SUN 
AXD INTO THE PACKING- 
SHED QUICKLY 



1/4 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



Blackcap raspberries do not sucker from the 
roots and are propagated differently. When black- 
cap tips bend down near the ground toward autumn, 
new plants can be easily started. Bend down and 
bury each tip a few inches beneath the ground, hold- 
ing it in place by pegs, a stone, or the weight of a 
little heaped-up soil. Most of the tips, if not dis- 
turbed, will take root and form nice plants by next 
spring ; at which time the parent canes can be severed 
a few inches from the new plants^ and the latter can 
then be dug up and set out wherever desired. 

Planting-distances, culture, etc. : Blackberries 
for horse cultivation are usually set about eight feet 
apart in rows, plants spaced about two feet (2,722 
to the acre). Red raspberry rows, about six feet 
apart, plants spaced about two feet (3,630 to the 
acre). The plants, of both, sucker and run to- 
gether in the row in a year of two, until there is a 
continuous hedgerow about a foot wide (plants 
which come up outside of this should be treated like 
weeds). For small garden or hoe cultivation the 
rows might be a little closer together. Blackcaps 
for horse cultivation may be set in six-foot rows, 
about two and one-half feet apart between plants; 
or 5x5, and cultivated both ways if the rows are 
straight in each direction (1,742 plants to the acre). 
As blackcaps do not sucker, the hills will "stay put." 

As to the depth to set plants of raspberries and 
blackberries, I shall simply say : Set them only a 
trifle deeper than they were before digging. 

Soil for these berries should be moist, well 
fertilized, loamy, well drained and deeply plowed. 
Cultivation should begin in early spring and continue 
(say at ten-day intervals) until about the middle of 
August. A mulch at fruiting time is helpful and 



SMALL FRUITS 



practicable in a small patch. A cover crop is some- 
times sown at the last cultivation, for turning un- 
der in early spring. Do not plow the ground (after 
it is planted) deeper than three inches; cultivate 
about tw^o inches deep ; hand-hoe between plants 
where the cultivator can not go. Do not let plants 
produce fruit the first season; a small crop may be 
expected the following year ; a full crop the third 
year. 

Pruning : The first year, none. After that, 
cut out (close to the ground) all old canes each 
summer as soon as they have fruited. At the same 
time, cut out surplus canes (wdien the rows get too 
thick) and diseased or feeble canes. Remove and 
burn the cuttings, promptly. Don't let the rows 
get too wide or too thick, but be sure to leave enough 
new shoots for next year's fruiting. In the early 
spring go through the patch again ; cut out all 
broken or winter-killed canes or branches, shorten 
remaining canes to four or five feet, and cut off at 
least a third of the tips of long side-shoots. Rake 
up and burn all brush. (Xote: There is another 
pruning detail which is practised by some growers, 
called ''summer pruning" or "pinching." This con- 
sists of pinching off the tip ends of all new^ shoots 
when they are not more than two feet high — the idea 
being to make the canes stocky and more self-sup- 
porting, with low side-branches. This method has 
advantages and disadvantages ; some growers greatly 
favor it, while others condemn it and say that it often 
causes too much late, tender growth that winter- 
kills in the North. It seems to work better with 
blackcaps and blackberries, than with red raspber- 
ries.) If the canes are properly pruned, no supports 
should be needed ; although in small gardens it is 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



quite common to string stout wires along the rows, 
either using double wires or tying the canes to a sin- 
gle wire. Blackcaps and blackberries are usually 
picked and packed in quart boxes in crates the same 
as strawberries. Red raspberries are generally 
packed in pint boxes. Get blackberries out of tlie 
sun double-quick, or they'll turn red in spots, says 
Tim ; and he speaks from experience. 

Varieties : The following kinds of blackberries 
are hardy, or nearly so, in New York State, says 
O. Taylor : Agawam, Ancient Briton, Eldorado, 
Snyder, Ohmer, Stone Hardy, Taylor, Wachusett. 
The not hardy kinds are : Kittatinny, Lovett, Merser- 
eau, ]\Iinnewaski, Wilson Jr., Early Harvest, Early 
]\Iammoth. (The latter varieties may endure the 
winter cold some years, but the safest way is to bend 
down the canes lengthwise of the row in late fall 
and cover with earth, in the extreme North ; this 
bending is done by first removing some soil from one 
side of the roots.) 

Gregg, Kansas, Ohio, Conrath, etc., are popular 
blackcaps. Cuthbert, Miller, Loudon, etc., are good 
red raspberries. (Golden Queen is a yellow-fruited 
variety. Shaffer is a purple-cap kind, but not popu- 
lar for market.) 

Insects and diseases : Cane-borers, gall-beetles, 
tree-crickets and similar insects that infest rasp- 
berry and blackberry canes, are difficult to combat 
with sprays ; however, the prompt cutting out and 
burning of old, dead and infested canes will usually 
keep these enemies in check. A little worm (the 
larvae of a black saw-fly) sometimes feeds upon the 
leaves ; hellebore or arsenate of lead sprays will kill 
it. Anthracnose (purplish or scabby patches on the 
canes) is a fungous trouble; spray with the Bor- 



SMALL FRUITS 



deaux mixture and promptly destroy canes after 
fruiting. Red rust (powdery, orange-red places on 
leaves, etc.) is a very common trouble; dig out in- 
fested plants — root and branch — whenever seen, and 
burn ; be careful not to scatter the dust on healthy 
bushes ; early sprayings with Bordeaux may help a 
little. 

Currants axd Gooseberries. — Buy plants. Or, 
soon after the leaves fall in autumn, currant, goose- 
berry and grape cuttings may best be made. Use 
this season's new wood-growth ; cut into lengths 
about eight inches long, tie into bundles, and bury in 
not too wet sand in the cellar, for spring planting. 
Or if you will mulch them well through the winter, 
they may be set at once in the fall. Set them slightly 
leaning, top end up, about five inches apart, deeply, 
in rows (each cutting having at least one bud above 
and one below ground), cultivate them as you would 
any other crop, and transplant them to their per- 
manent place the following fall or spring. The soil 
should be well firmed around the cuttings. 

]\Iost growers make the permanent rows 5x5 feet 
and cultivate both ways ; but in a sraall garden the 
bushes might be spaced about four feet apart in live- 
foot rows. A well-drained clay or clay-loam soil is 
liked best by these bushes. They are great feeders and 
manure should be used bountifully. The roots run 
close to the surface, so beware of cultivating deeply; 
but regular, light stirrings of the soil until August 
are beneficial. Some growers cultivate the ground 
once or twice in the spring and then mulch the sur- 
face during the balance of the year ; this is a good 
hint for the small gardener. In some localities cur- 
rants and gooseberries are packed in quart boxes 
the same as strav/berries ; consult your local market- 



1/8 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



man. Gooseberries are usually marketed while in a 
green, hard condition. 

Pruning and pests : These fruits are usually- 
grown and trained in bush form, and shoots from 
the base are utilized to renew the top gradually. 
Pruning consists of cutting out weak or superfluous 
new shoots, and old ones which have outlived their 
usefulness or which have become diseased or infested 
with borers. But never cut out too many old stalks 
at once, for the bulk of the fruit is produced on such 
wood. Stalks may be left until about three years 
old — which is often the limit of their usefulness. 
All shoots, old or new, may be cut back, as desired, 
to make the bushes more compact and symmetrical, 
and the fruit larger. In other words, thin out, cut 
back, and gradually replace the older stalks with 
younger ones. Burn all clippings promptly, for thus 
the borer is kept down. The principal other enemy 
is the currant worm which attacks the leaves in early 
spring. Remedy : Spray the bushes with the helle- 
bore mixture given in Chapter V, but do it promptly 
when the first worm is seen ; watch the bushes 
closely shortly after the leaves unfold in the spring. 
Fungous blight troubles can be controlled with Bor- 
deaux. Sulphur for mildew is often used. 

Varieties : Victoria, Cherry, Fay's Prolific, etc., 
are popular kinds of currants. Red Dutch is the 
small, old-fashioned kind; it is still much grown. 
White Dutch and White Grape are white varieties. 
Black Xaples is esteemed for jellies, etc. Downing, 
Houghten, Columbus, etc., are well-known native 
gooseberries. Industry is a fine, large European 
variety, very sweet; but more subject to mildew 
than the American kinds. 

Grapes. — Buy one-year-old vines ; or propagate 



SMALL FRUITS 



1/9 



them from cuttings as advised for currants (page 
177). Vineyard rows should be about eight feet 
apart, plants spaced about eight feet in the rows. 
Any good, well-drained soil will do, but — commer- 
cially speaking — grapes do their best only in certain 
localities where temperature, climate, etc., are en- 
tirely favorable. The "Chautauqua grape belt" in New 
York state is such a place. There are others. How- 
ever, a few grapes for home use can be grown 
almost anywhere. On account of greater security 
against frost dangers, an elevated location is pref- 
erable to a low-lying place. In very cold sections 
grapes do especially well on the sunny side of a wall, 
fence or building. So be sure to have at least a few 
Concords, Delawares, Niagaras, Brightons, etc. 
After planting, cut back the top to about three buds 
and let the vine grow as it pleases the first season. 
Then, the next February, cut back the best cane to 
about four ''eyes" or buds, and cut off any other 
canes entirely; when these buds commence to grow, 
rub off all but the two strongest shoots, and, as they 
grow, tie them to the wire of a trellis or to a stake. 
The third year's pruning will depend somewhat upon 
what system of training you decide upon ; the sub- 
ject is too large and intricate for treatment here. 
The Kniffen system is one often used ; it consists in 
training the vine so that it has four horizontal side 
or main branches, two on each side, one above an- 
other, tied to two wires ; the first wire may be about 
three feet high, the second about five feet. I sug- 
gest that every grape-grower should send to the 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, 
ask for free Farmers' Bulletins Nos. 156 and 284, 
and learn all the facts about other systems. 

Extra-fine grapes are obtained by cutting off the 



i8o 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



inferior bunches and removing those that crowd 
others. Cuhivation, too, helps to make fine fruit. 
So do annual applications of bone meal, stable ma- 
nure, and some form of potash. Another aid to 
high quality, is "sacking" or "bagging" the bunches. 
The best time to do this is when the berries are 
quite small — not larger than small shot. Ordinary 
two-pound paper sacks can be used. The mouth of 
each sack should be snugly wrapped around the stem 
of the bunch, and securely held in place by pinning 
or tying. The tie should be tight, but, of course, 
not too tight. The sacks protect the grapes from 
fungous and insect enemies, including wasps, birds, 
etc., and the bunches thus protected are finer and 
more perfect. For grape-rot and mildew, begin 
early and spray the vines with Bordeaux mixture at 
intervals of about two weeks. The addition of 
arsenate of lead to the earlier sprayings will kill any 
insects which eat the leaves (see Chapter V). 

Other Fruits. — In regard to the dewberry, etc., 
I must refer you to my Berry Book. There, also, 
3^ou will find many details about small-fruit growing 
which lack of space excludes from this chapter. 




INDEX 



A PAGE 

Ammonia 52 

Angleworms 62 

Anise 145 

Annual flowers 162-165 

Anthracnose 140, 176 

Ants 62 

Arsenical poisons 56, 57 

Artichoke 141 

Ashes, hardwood. .43, 52, 65 

Asparagus 65-70 

B 

Bagging grapes 180 

Balm 145 

Bean 120, 123 

Bees 63 

Beet . . . . 95, 96, 100 

Beetles. (See Asparagus, etc.) 
Bellows for powder... 59, 60 

Berries 167-178 

Birds 63, 180 

Bisulphide of carbon.... 62 

Blackberry 173, 177 

Blackcaps 174 

Blanching. (See Aspara- 
gus, Celery, etc.) 
Blight. (See Potato, etc.) 
Blossoms, never spray... 62 
Blossoms, pollination of, 

63, 168 

Blossoms, removing, 

132, 167, 169 

Bone meal 43, 45 

Bordeaux mixture 55, 56 

Borecole 117 

Borers 125, 132, 178 

Broadcasting. .26, 43, 44, 47 

Broccoli 117 

Brushing 84, 164 

Brussels sprouts 117 

Bugs. (See Insects.) 

Buhach 59 

Buncher, asparagus 67 

Bursting, cabbage 112 

c 

Cabbage 111-116 

Cane-borer 176 

Cantaloupe 130 

Caraway 145 

Carbolic-acid emulsion... 58 
Carbon, bisulphide of.... 62 



PAGE 

Cardoon 147 

Carrot 96, 97 

Catch crops 44 

Caterpillars 110 

Catnip 145 

Cauliflower 116 

Celeriac 141, 142 

Celery 1 05-1 10 

Cellars 92, 93 

Chard 142 

Chervil 147 

Chickens 62, 81, 90 

Chicory 147 

Chives 147 

Citron 131 

Climbing flowering vines. 161 

Cloth for frames 32 

Clover 44, 45, 88 

Club-root 115, 116 

Coldframes.2o, 21, 23, 40, 128 

Collards iii 

Compost 26, 30, 47 

Copper, sulphate of... 55, 56 

Coriander 145 

Corn 119, 120 

Corn salad 142 

Cover crops 44 

Cress 142, 143 

Crown-borer 172 

Crows 63 

Cucumber i-7-i33 

Culls 77 

Cultivation. .34, 35, 36, 47-54 
Cultivators ...49, 50, 51, 54 

Currant 177, 178 

Cuttings 124, 177 

Cutworms 115 

D 

"Damping off" 23, 105 

Depth to plant. 26, 35, 36, 40 

Dibbers 35, 36 

Digging 92, 100, i2j 

Dill 145 

Dirt-bands ^ ....31, 32 

Diseases. (See Onion, etc.) 

Distances apart 34 

Drag, plank 17 

Drainage 11 

Drills, in soil 37 

Drills, machine ....... 37, 53 

Drought 48 



BIGGLE GARDEN BOOK 



PAGE 

Dugout 93, loi 

Dust mulch 35 

E 

Earthworms 62 

Kggplant 139, 140 

Emulsion, kerosene 58 

Endive 143 

F 

Fall-plowing 81, 91 

Fennel 145 

Fertilization ...43-47, 52, 53 

Fire hotbeds 21, 22 

Fires, smudge 140 

Firming the soil. ..26, 36, 39 

Flats 26-31, 34 

Flea beetle 115 

Float 17 

Flowers 149-166 

Forcing. (See Hotbeds, etc.) 

Fork, digging 14 

Formalin 56, 116 

Frost, fighting 140 

Fruits, small 167-180 

Fungicides 55, 56, 62 

Fungous diseases. (See 
Bean, Onion, etc.) 
G 

Gall-beetle 176 

Garlic 147 

Germination .. 25, 26, 40, 106 

Gherkin 129 

Ginseng 143, 144 

Glass for frames 21 

Gooseberry 177, 178 

Grading. (See Tomato, etc.) 

Grape 1 78-180 

Green fly 59 

Greenhouses 22, 23 

Green manuring 45 

Greens 96, 11 1, 142 

Groundhogs 62 

Ginib, white 125, 172 

Guano 45 

Gumbo 1 46 

Gypsum 63 

H 

Hardening plants. .. .29, 165 

Hardy vegetables 27, 40 

Harrows 1 7? 67 

Heading 104 



PAGE 

Heave out, plants. ...... 49 

Hellebore 5/ 

Hen manure 52, 53 

Hens 62, 81, 90 

Herbs 144, 145 

Hiller, celery 108 

Hilling up.. 66, 90, 107, 108 

Hoes 49, 50, 51, 52, 53 

Hook, potato 125 

Horehound 145 

Horseradish 73 

Hotbeds 19--23 

Humus 43, 44, 45 

Hyssop 145 

I 

Implements. (See Plows, etc.) 

Insecticides 55-59 

Insects. (See Onion, etc.) 
Irrigation 51, 52 

J-une bug 172 

K 

Kainit 43, 90 

Kale 117 

Kerosene emulsion 58 

Kohlrabi 117 

L 

Labels, plant 41 

Lady-bugs 63 

Land plaster 63 

Lavender 145 

Leaf-roller 172 

Leaf-rot. (See Lettuce, etc.) 
Leaf-spot. (See Beet, etc.) 

Leek 145 

Legumes 45 

Lettuce 103-105 

Lice remedies. 58, 59, 86, 87 

Lime 46, 47, 52, 54, 55 

Lime-sulphur mixture. ... 166 

Line, use of 33, 34, 37 

Liquid manure 45 

M 

]\Iaggot. (See Cabbage, etc.) 

Mangel-wurzel 100 

^Manure. . . .20, 23, 43, 44, 45 
^Marketing. (See Aspara- 
gus, Onion, etc.) 

^Marking =33, 34, 37, 39 

Mats for frames.. 29, 32, 33 



